Bailard Inc. Has $3.01 Million Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Bailard Inc. lessened its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,517 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 664 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $3,013,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 471.4% in the 3rd quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total transaction of $2,436,695.63. Following the transaction, the director now owns 86,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,879,451.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total transaction of $2,436,695.63. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at $6,879,451.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $239,190.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $445,850.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL stock traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $83.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 998,768 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,267,124. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $64.10 and a 1-year high of $86.26. The company has a market cap of $48.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.88, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a current ratio of 0.06. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $82.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.70.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.22). The business had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 24.92% and a return on equity of 17.59%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.29 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AFL. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Aflac from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.15.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides supplemental health and life insurance products. The company operates through Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S. segments. The Aflac Japan segment offers cancer, medical, nursing care, work leave, GIFT, and whole and term life insurance products, as well as WAYS and child endowment plans under saving type insurance products in Japan.