CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Trims Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lowered its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 48,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 943 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $5,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,340,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,310,640,000 after purchasing an additional 653,275 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $349,699,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,226,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $333,768,000 after purchasing an additional 47,119 shares during the period. Amundi raised its holdings in Aflac by 81.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,753,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,232,683 shares during the period. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,395,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $247,682,000 after purchasing an additional 118,720 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction of $107,630.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,733,048.59. The trade was a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at $5,360,422.98. This represents a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac Stock Up 1.1 %

Aflac stock opened at $112.44 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $79.31 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.71, 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 quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $106.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.71.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (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%. Analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. 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 note on Friday, February 28th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.