Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Sold by Burney Co.

Burney Co. reduced its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 49,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,607 shares during the period. Burney Co.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $5,190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter worth about $140,746,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth about $60,954,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 133.2% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 758,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,329,000 after acquiring an additional 433,134 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 19.4% during the 2nd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,372,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $250,187,000 after acquiring an additional 385,546 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,575,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $397,510,000 after acquiring an additional 349,787 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $102.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.90.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $102,570.00. Following the sale, the director owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at $2,575,019.85. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE AFL opened at $106.92 on Tuesday. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $115.43. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $108.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.24, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that permits the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Aflac Company Profile

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.