Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Has $57.43 Million Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 696,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,592 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned 0.12% of Aflac worth $57,430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $31,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on AFL. UBS Group lifted their target price 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 reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Aflac from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $78.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Three equities 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other 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 value of $2,436,695.63. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,879,451.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 directly owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at $6,879,451.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL stock traded down $0.55 during trading on Thursday, reaching $83.73. 1,849,601 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,278,591. The company has a 50-day moving average of $82.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.70. The company has a market capitalization of $48.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.06 and a quick ratio of 0.06.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.