Guardian Partners Inc. Invests $6.78 Million in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Guardian Partners Inc. bought a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 65,444 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,778,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Raelipskie Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 $2,733,048.59. The trade was a 3.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,546 shares of company stock valued at $5,863,616 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

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Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $110.87. 1,804,339 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,992,585. The company has a market capitalization of $60.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $79.31 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $106.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. Sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $103.36.

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.