Bank OZK Sells 500 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Bank OZK reduced its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 24,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Aflac accounts for about 1.0% of Bank OZK’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Bank OZK’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,046,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,558,000. abrdn plc grew its position in shares of Aflac by 51.2% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 298,226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,604,000 after buying an additional 100,937 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 353.3% in the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 14,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 11,499 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,693,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $139,676,000 after purchasing an additional 348,400 shares during the period. Finally, G&S Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 65.1% in the 4th quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 31,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,626,000 after purchasing an additional 12,551 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Aflac news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $239,190.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $445,850.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of AFL stock traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $83.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,839,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,169,786. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $64.10 and a 52-week high of $86.26. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $82.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.75. 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 has a market cap of $48.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.78, a PEG ratio of 2.30 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 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $3.78 billion during 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 predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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. Morgan Stanley raised 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, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Three research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.15.

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.