Sei Investments Co. Sells 50,891 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Sei Investments Co. lessened its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 20.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 200,946 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 50,891 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $20,785,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Raelipskie Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AFL shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Two research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.36.

Aflac Stock Performance

Aflac stock opened at $110.41 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. The company has a market capitalization of $60.35 billion, a PE ratio of 11.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $106.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.64. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $79.31 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total value of $3,197,456.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,546 shares of company stock valued at $5,863,616 over the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.