Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Position Lessened by Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 23.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,838 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,619 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Studio Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI downgraded Aflac from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $239,190.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $445,850.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $239,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $445,850.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706 in the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $80.42 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.38, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.47. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $64.10 and a 52-week high of $86.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 24.92%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.