AE Wealth Management LLC Sells 271,490 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• AE Wealth Management cut its Aflac stake by 93.8% in Q4, selling 271,490 shares and leaving 17,904 shares valued at $1.974 million, according to its SEC filing.
• Other selling included major shareholder Post Holdings (86,155 shares sold under a Rule 10b5-1 plan) and insiders who offloaded 572,632 shares in the past three months, while institutional investors still own 67.44% of the stock.
• Aflac missed Q4 revenue and EPS estimates, trades near $116 with a ~$59.8B market cap, and carries a consensus analyst rating of "Hold" with a $111.82 price target.

AE Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 93.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,904 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 271,490 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $1,974,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. BIP Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 348.3% during the fourth quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 55,723 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,145,000 after purchasing an additional 43,293 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,731,482 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $193,407,000 after purchasing an additional 163,791 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 126.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 21,345 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,384,000 after purchasing an additional 11,903 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,866,471 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $206,712,000 after buying an additional 97,766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 97,344 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,841,000 after buying an additional 10,423 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 86,155 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.24, for a total transaction of $9,756,192.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 51,636,945 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,847,367,651.80. The trade was a 0.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 572,632 shares of company stock valued at $63,514,634 in the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aflac Stock Up 1.2%

NYSE:AFL opened at $116.01 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $59.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $111.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.67. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $96.95 and a 52-week high of $119.32.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.45 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.57 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Aflac from $118.00 to $116.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Barclays set a $101.00 target price on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Evercore raised shares of Aflac from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $111.82.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac's product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.

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