Ossiam Sells 120,378 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Ossiam lessened its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 54.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 100,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 120,378 shares during the period. Ossiam’s holdings in Aflac were worth $10,439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $349,699,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $163,409,000. Amundi boosted its stake in Aflac by 81.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,753,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,181,000 after buying an additional 1,232,683 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Aflac by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,340,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,310,640,000 after buying an additional 653,275 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 670.9% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 556,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,572,000 after buying an additional 484,378 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 document filed 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total value of $3,197,456.58. Following the sale, the director now directly 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. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Aflac in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays cut their target price on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.93.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $107.35 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $80.59 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.59 billion, a PE ratio of 11.18, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $106.72 and its 200-day moving average is $107.33.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS 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.