Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Has $416,000 Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. trimmed its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 333 shares during the period. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $416,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Studio Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC grew its position in Aflac by 471.4% in the 3rd quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Evercore ISI downgraded Aflac from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Aflac from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.36.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL traded up $0.40 during trading on Thursday, reaching $86.02. 1,243,446 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,252,303. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.06 and a quick ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.91. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $63.08 and a 52-week high of $86.26. The company has a 50-day moving average of $81.66 and a 200-day moving average of $80.74.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.22). The business had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 24.92% and a return on equity of 17.59%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.29 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total value of $666,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,735,635.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Aflac news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total value of $666,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 32,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,735,635.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $239,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706. Company 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.