Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 541,777 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Alliancebernstein L.P. trimmed its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 12.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,986,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 541,777 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.72% of Aflac worth $412,345,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth about $349,699,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $163,409,000. Amundi increased its holdings in Aflac by 81.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,753,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $285,181,000 after buying an additional 1,232,683 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 670.9% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 556,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,572,000 after acquiring an additional 484,378 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total value of $3,197,456.58. Following the transaction, the director now owns 49,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,360,422.98. The trade was a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the 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 directly owns 25,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,733,048.59. The trade was a 3.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Up 1.3 %

AFL stock opened at $111.25 on Tuesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $79.31 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $106.58 and its 200 day moving average is $107.68. The company has a market capitalization of $60.72 billion, a PE ratio of 11.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AFL. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.36.

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.