Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lessened its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 645,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 46,186 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.12% of Aflac worth $66,739,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AFL. FMR LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,202,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $134,395,000 after buying an additional 45,745 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the third quarter valued at approximately $335,000. Financial Counselors Inc. raised its holdings in Aflac by 15.8% during the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 6,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $687,000 after purchasing an additional 838 shares in the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Aflac in the third quarter worth approximately $930,000. Finally, L.M. Kohn & Company bought a new position in Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at $249,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE:AFL opened at $109.71 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $106.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.43, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $79.31 and a 1-year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AFL. Barclays cut their price objective on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the 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 completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,733,048.59. The trade was 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.

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.