Bleakley Financial Group LLC Boosts Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 764 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $928,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 13,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,092,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP grew its position in Aflac by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP now owns 45,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,723,000 after purchasing an additional 5,482 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 263,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,712,000 after buying an additional 3,307 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 376,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,786,000 after buying an additional 26,338 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total value of $2,436,695.63. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,879,451.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706 over the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James boosted their price target on Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.85.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $79.64 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $81.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.34. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $64.10 and a 12 month high of $86.26. The firm has a market cap of $45.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). Aflac had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 24.92%. The firm had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.