Simplicity Wealth LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Simplicity Wealth LLC reduced its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 54.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,449 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 7,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $791,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 6,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $662,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Aflac by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. TKG Advisors LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 21,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,230,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Aflac by 41.8% in 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 last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,733,048.59. This trade represents a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 55,546 shares of company stock valued at $5,863,616. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Down 0.4 %

Aflac stock opened at $106.35 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $58.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $79.31 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $105.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted 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 return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

About Aflac

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.