Scotia Capital Inc. Sells 102 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Scotia Capital Inc. cut its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 102 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Aflac from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays dropped their price objective on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total transaction of $107,630.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,733,048.59. This trade represents a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total transaction of $3,197,456.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 49,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. The trade was a 37.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $108.02 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $79.69 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $58.96 billion, a PE ratio of 11.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $106.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.40.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.