Huntington National Bank Grows Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 223,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 21,338 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Aflac were worth $23,149,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price objective for the company. Barclays cut their price target on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,733,048.59. This trade represents a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total transaction of $3,197,456.58. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $112.44 on Wednesday. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $106.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.71. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $79.31 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The firm has a market cap of $61.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

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.