Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Purchased by Valeo Financial Advisors LLC

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 697 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,304,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Aflac Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of AFL stock opened at $80.28 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $64.10 and a fifty-two week high of $86.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a current ratio of 0.06. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $81.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.36, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.91.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). Aflac had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 24.92%. The company had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. Research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI cut shares of Aflac from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James increased their target price on Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, UBS Group increased 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.85.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total transaction of $2,436,695.63. Following the transaction, the director now owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,879,451.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,390.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706 in the last quarter. 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.