Bailard Inc. Increases Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Bailard Inc. boosted its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 42,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,370 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $4,352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 41.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $109.46 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. The company has a market capitalization of $60.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.99. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $78.62 and a one year high of $115.50. The company’s 50-day moving average is $104.56 and its 200 day moving average is $107.60.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. Sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on AFL. Barclays dropped their price target on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.36.

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.