Prana Capital Management LP Lowers Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Prana Capital Management LP lessened its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 75.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 71,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 216,509 shares during the quarter. Prana Capital Management LP’s holdings in Aflac were worth $7,961,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 64.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,507,000 after buying an additional 5,708 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 6.3% during the second quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 7,507 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $792,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG grew its stake in Aflac by 16.1% in the second quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 15,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,539,000 after purchasing an additional 2,083 shares during the period. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 5.8% during the second quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 2,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $119.00 price target (up from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Barclays set a $101.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.73.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, EVP Steven Kent Beaver sold 7,387 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.58, for a total value of $839,015.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 40,526 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,602,943.08. This trade represents a 15.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 17,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.14, for a total value of $1,899,036.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 52,132,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,689,762,878. The trade was a 0.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 151,077 shares of company stock valued at $16,648,784. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Up 0.4%

AFL opened at $109.53 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $119.32. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $111.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $110.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.66.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.12). Aflac had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The company had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.57 earnings per share. Aflac’s revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.