First Trust Advisors LP Sells 432,760 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,463,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 432,760 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.80% of Aflac worth $461,706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Forum Financial Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 8,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $913,000 after buying an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 7,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $764,000 after purchasing an additional 1,793 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 339.7% during the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 303,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,389,000 after purchasing an additional 234,439 shares during the period. Capital Square LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Finally, Zacks Investment Management increased its holdings in Aflac by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 19,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,012,000 after buying an additional 631 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AFL. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Aflac from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays decreased 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. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.93.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $107.35 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $80.59 and a one year high of $115.50. The stock has a market cap of $58.59 billion, a PE ratio of 11.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $106.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced 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 net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. On average, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $2,733,048.59. This trade represents a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was 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 $5,360,422.98. This trade represents 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 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.