Dean Investment Associates LLC Sells 5,328 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Dean Investment Associates LLC lowered its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 38.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,401 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,328 shares during the quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth about $349,699,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $163,409,000. 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 during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 653,275 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 670.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 556,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,572,000 after acquiring an additional 484,378 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Up 0.0 %

AFL opened at $107.35 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $106.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.37. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $80.11 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The company has a market cap of $58.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81. 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 (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share 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%. Analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Aflac from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays reduced their target price on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.93.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total transaction of $107,630.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,733,048.59. The trade was a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total transaction of $3,197,456.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 49,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. This trade represents a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.