Stifel Financial Corp Trims Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Stifel Financial Corp lessened its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 550,510 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 40,043 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp owned about 0.10% of Aflac worth $56,945,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,733,048.59. This represents a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 49,962 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,360,422.98. This trade represents a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $108.28 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $80.59 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $106.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.17. The stock has a market cap of $59.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.28, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81.

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 return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. On average, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock 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.

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