Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Purchases 11,176 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 317,299 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 11,176 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Aflac worth $32,821,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AFL. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Aflac by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $88,533,000 after buying an additional 333,083 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Aflac in the third quarter valued at approximately $979,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $948,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 4.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,202,104 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $134,395,000 after purchasing an additional 45,745 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Willis Investment Counsel boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 273,466 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,287,000 after purchasing an additional 3,357 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total value of $3,197,456.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold 55,546 shares of company stock valued at $5,863,616 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $103.36.

Aflac Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of AFL stock traded up $1.13 on Wednesday, hitting $108.49. The company had a trading volume of 1,846,789 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,883,773. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $79.31 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market cap of $59.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. The stock's 50-day moving average is $105.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.65.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.