Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Cannell & Spears LLC

Cannell & Spears LLC lessened its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 121,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 913 shares during the quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $12,616,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Financial LLC raised its position in Aflac by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 19,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,993,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,676,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $173,400,000 after buying an additional 263,134 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 31.0% in the 4th quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 54,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,609,000 after buying an additional 12,820 shares during the period. RWA Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac by 91.2% during the 4th quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 12,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,301,000 after acquiring an additional 6,001 shares during the period. Finally, Strategy Asset Managers LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 4,911 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $508,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $109.71 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $106.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.66. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $79.31 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The stock has a market cap of $59.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at $5,360,422.98. The trade was a 37.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.36.

Aflac Company 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.