Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Bought by Wintrust Investments LLC

Wintrust Investments LLC raised its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 10.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,695 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 357 shares during the period. Wintrust Investments LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $382,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the third quarter worth about $34,000. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays dropped their price target on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.36.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $104.67 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $79.31 and a 12 month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total value of $3,197,456.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. The trade was a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,733,048.59. This trade represents a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 55,546 shares of company stock valued at $5,863,616. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Profile

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.