Valmark Advisers Inc. Sells 1,219 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Valmark Advisers Inc. trimmed its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,219 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,783,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Aflac by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,208,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,160,465,000 after purchasing an additional 605,210 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Aflac by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,643,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $740,141,000 after purchasing an additional 794,784 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Aflac by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,295,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $559,953,000 after purchasing an additional 368,704 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Aflac by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,808,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $369,036,000 after purchasing an additional 227,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its holdings in Aflac by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,236,241 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $171,659,000 after purchasing an additional 49,479 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AFL. Raymond James boosted their target price on Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.15.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL traded down $0.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $83.61. 1,839,028 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,169,786. The company has a market cap of $48.11 billion, a PE ratio of 10.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $82.69 and a 200 day moving average of $81.75. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $64.10 and a 52-week high of $86.26. 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 (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 24.92%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $239,190.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $445,850.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.