Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Sold by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC trimmed its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 36.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,123,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 645,536 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.21% of Aflac worth $125,458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 11,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,321,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Courier Capital LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 3.9% in the third quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 2,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its position in Aflac by 5.1% in the third quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 2,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc lifted its stake in Aflac by 3.2% during the third quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 3,169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $354,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, Berkeley Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 0.9% during the third quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,303,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other news, EVP Steven Kent Beaver sold 7,387 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.58, for a total value of $839,015.46. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 40,526 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,602,943.08. This trade represents a 15.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of AFL opened at $111.48 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $57.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.20, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.66. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $119.32. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $111.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $110.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.12). Aflac had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The business had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $119.00 price objective (up from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $120.00 price target on Aflac in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Aflac from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Barclays set a $101.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.73.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.