Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC Decreases Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 43.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,409 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,710 shares during the period. Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $611,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Aflac by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,208,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,160,465,000 after purchasing an additional 605,210 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Aflac by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,643,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $740,141,000 after purchasing an additional 794,784 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Aflac by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,295,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $559,953,000 after purchasing an additional 368,704 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Aflac by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,808,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $369,036,000 after purchasing an additional 227,516 shares during the period. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its holdings in Aflac by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,236,241 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $171,659,000 after buying an additional 49,479 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,879,451.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Aflac news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the business’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 in the company, valued at approximately $445,850.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total value of $2,436,695.63. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,879,451.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL traded up $0.54 on Wednesday, hitting $84.29. 2,431,525 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,284,022. The firm has a market cap of $48.50 billion, a PE ratio of 10.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.91. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $64.10 and a twelve month high of $86.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $82.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $3.78 billion for 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 last year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on AFL shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.15.

Aflac 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.