Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Purchased by Motley Fool Asset Management LLC

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 16,092 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 507 shares during the quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 471.4% during the 3rd quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $239,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $445,850.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706 over the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $83.58. 1,838,831 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,273,162. The company has a current ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $48.09 billion, a PE ratio of 10.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.91. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $64.10 and a twelve month high of $86.26. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $82.69 and its 200-day moving average is $81.75.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 24.92%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on AFL shares. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Raymond James upped their target price on Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.15.

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.