Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Valmark Advisers Inc.

Valmark Advisers Inc. trimmed its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,219 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,783,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Aflac by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,208,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,160,465,000 after acquiring an additional 605,210 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Aflac by 9.0% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,643,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $740,141,000 after acquiring an additional 794,784 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Aflac by 5.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,295,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $559,953,000 after acquiring an additional 368,704 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Aflac by 5.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,808,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $369,036,000 after acquiring an additional 227,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD boosted its stake in Aflac by 2.3% in the third quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,236,241 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $171,659,000 after acquiring an additional 49,479 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AFL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target 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. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.15.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at $6,879,451.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at $6,879,451.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total transaction of $666,720.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 32,825 shares in the company, valued at $2,735,635.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706 over the last 90 days. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL traded down $0.12 on Friday, reaching $83.61. The stock had a trading volume of 1,839,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,169,786. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $64.10 and a 12-month high of $86.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $82.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.75. The company has a market cap of $48.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.91.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.22). Aflac had a net margin of 24.92% and a return on equity of 17.59%. The firm had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current 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.