Level Four Advisory Services LLC Reduces Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Level Four Advisory Services LLC lowered its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 68,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,599 shares during the quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $7,120,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Norges Bank bought a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth about $349,699,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $163,409,000. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 81.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,753,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $285,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,232,683 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Aflac by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,340,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,310,640,000 after purchasing an additional 653,275 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Aflac by 670.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 556,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,572,000 after purchasing an additional 484,378 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AFL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total transaction of $107,630.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,733,048.59. The trade was a 3.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at $5,360,422.98. The trade was a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $110.87 on Friday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $106.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.66. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $79.31 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The company has a market cap of $60.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.55, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current 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.