Dearborn Partners LLC Reduces Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Dearborn Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 171 shares during the period. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AFL. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $1,558,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Aflac by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,693,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $139,676,000 after acquiring an additional 348,400 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its holdings in Aflac by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 376,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,786,000 after acquiring an additional 26,338 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 48,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,741,000 after acquiring an additional 5,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on AFL. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $81.58.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total transaction of $2,436,695.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,879,451.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock opened at $83.16 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $47.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.91. 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 1 year low of $64.06 and a 1 year high of $86.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $81.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.34.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 24.92% and a return on equity of 17.59%. The business had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac 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.