First Trust Advisors LP Has $461.71 Million Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

First Trust Advisors LP lowered its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,463,511 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 432,760 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.80% of Aflac worth $461,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Forum Financial Management LP raised its position in Aflac by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 8,831 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $913,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 32.0% in the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 7,390 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $764,000 after purchasing an additional 1,793 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 339.7% in the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 303,454 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,389,000 after buying an additional 234,439 shares in the last quarter. Capital Square LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $205,000. Finally, Zacks Investment Management boosted its stake in Aflac by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 19,446 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,012,000 after buying an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a "market perform" rating and a $111.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays decreased 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. UBS Group lifted their price target on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Two equities research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $103.93.

Aflac Trading Up 0.5 %

AFL traded up $0.54 during trading on Thursday, reaching $108.97. 722,538 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,990,905. The company's fifty day moving average price is $106.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.48 billion, a PE ratio of 11.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $80.59 and a fifty-two week 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.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 at this link. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total value of $3,197,456.58. Following the transaction, the director now owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. This 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Aflac Company 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.