Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Reduces Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC lowered its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,687 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,017 shares during the period. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,862,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 88.2% during the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 5,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 2,528 shares in the last quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC now owns 108,001 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,910,000 after buying an additional 5,060 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $1,596,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 36.2% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $149,000 after buying an additional 479 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.75% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Up 0.1 %

AFL traded up $0.12 on Monday, hitting $84.49. The company had a trading volume of 2,358,005 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,308,518. 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 Incorporated has a 52-week low of $61.17 and a 52-week high of $86.20. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $239,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,592 shares in the company, valued at $445,850.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 86,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,879,451.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction 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 41,493 shares of company stock worth $3,342,606 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James increased their price objective on Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Aflac from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Aflac from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Evercore ISI cut Aflac from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.36.

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.