Advisors Capital Management LLC Increases Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 711 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,141,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $349,699,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $163,409,000. Amundi raised its holdings 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. lifted its position 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 worth $5,310,640,000 after acquiring an additional 653,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings 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. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE AFL opened at $108.52 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $106.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.39. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $79.69 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company has a market capitalization of $59.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.30, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced 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%. Research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of Aflac 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 transaction, the director now owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were 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. This represents a 3.79 % 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

AFL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Aflac from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.93.

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.