CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Trims Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co reduced its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,002,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,650 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned approximately 0.18% of Aflac worth $103,619,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Aflac by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,340,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,310,640,000 after acquiring an additional 653,275 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,465,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,286,042,000 after purchasing an additional 288,482 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth $349,699,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Aflac by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,226,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $333,768,000 after acquiring an additional 47,119 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in Aflac by 81.1% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,753,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,232,683 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the sale, the director now 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 49,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,360,422.98. This represents 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

AFL opened at $107.43 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $79.93 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $106.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.64 billion, a PE ratio of 11.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. On average, analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.93.

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.