Goepper Burkhardt LLC Lowers Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Goepper Burkhardt LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 323 shares during the period. Goepper Burkhardt LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,041,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Aflac Trading Down 1.0 %

AFL stock opened at $109.71 on Monday. 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 1-year low of $79.31 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $106.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.66. The company has a market capitalization of $59.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.43, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93.

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 return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. Research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,733,048.59. The trade was a 3.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 49,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,360,422.98. This represents a 37.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.36.

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.