Mariner LLC Acquires 9,777 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Mariner LLC increased its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 158,382 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 9,777 shares during the period. Mariner LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $16,383,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AFL. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,427,628 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $147,673,000 after purchasing an additional 36,501 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,058 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. Savvy Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Aflac by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 3,230 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 11,030 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,141,000 after acquiring an additional 711 shares during the period. Finally, Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at about $647,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Aflac

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

Aflac Trading Up 2.1 %

AFL stock traded up $2.21 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $107.18. 155,002 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,995,477. The stock's fifty day moving average is $106.76 and its 200-day moving average is $107.16. The company has a market cap of $58.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.16, a P/E/G 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 Incorporated has a 52-week low of $80.59 and a 52-week high of $115.50.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Aflac from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $103.93.

About Aflac

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.