Virtus ETF Advisers LLC Has $1.08 Million Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Virtus ETF Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,477 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,139 shares during the quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,084,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Aflac by 1.3% in 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. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,465,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,286,042,000 after purchasing an additional 288,482 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth $349,699,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in 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 valued at $333,768,000 after purchasing an additional 47,119 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,232,683 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays dropped their target price on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.93.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,733,048.59. This trade represents a 3.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the company’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. This trade represents a 37.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aflac Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE AFL opened at $107.96 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $107.14 and its 200-day moving average is $107.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $80.59 and a one year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS 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.