PDS Planning Inc Makes New Investment in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

PDS Planning Inc bought a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 2,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 471.4% during the 3rd quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total transaction of $2,436,695.63. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 86,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,879,451.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Aflac news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total transaction of $2,436,695.63. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,879,451.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $239,190.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $445,850.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.15.

Aflac Stock Up 0.3 %

AFL stock opened at $83.75 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.06 and a quick ratio of 0.06. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $64.10 and a 52-week high of $86.26. The company has a 50-day moving average of $82.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.91.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.22). Aflac had a net margin of 24.92% and a return on equity of 17.59%. The company had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 EPS for the current 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.