Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Raises Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 253,560 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,710 shares during the quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina's holdings in Aflac were worth $26,228,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the director now owns 25,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,733,048.59. This represents a 3.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $103.93.

Aflac Trading Down 0.5 %

AFL stock traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $108.02. The company had a trading volume of 1,228,463 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,142,476. 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 $79.69 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The stock has a market cap of $58.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $106.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.39.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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.