Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Has $10.97 Million Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 106,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,678 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $10,966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 16,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,657,000 after buying an additional 2,071 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 56.7% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 733,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,887,000 after buying an additional 265,576 shares during the last quarter. Natural Investments LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $249,000. Finally, Cascade Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Cascade Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,431,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays reduced their target price on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.36.

Aflac Stock Down 1.5 %

Aflac stock opened at $104.67 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $57.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.90, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $79.31 and a 52-week high of $115.50. 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $105.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.70.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, 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 transaction of $107,630.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 55,546 shares of company stock valued at $5,863,616. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.