Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Sells 28,574 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. cut its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 16.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 142,920 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 28,574 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Aflac were worth $11,791,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in Aflac by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 376,087 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,786,000 after buying an additional 26,338 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Aflac by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,359 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,515,000 after buying an additional 374 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Aflac by 56.3% during the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,781 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,962,000 after buying an additional 8,570 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Aflac by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 19,232 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,587,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Insight Partners LLC bought a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,299,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Aflac from an "in-line" rating to an "underperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $78.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $81.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total transaction of $2,436,695.63. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at $6,879,451.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,920 shares in the company, valued at $1,516,390.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total transaction of $2,436,695.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,879,451.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE AFL traded up $0.64 on Friday, reaching $80.28. 2,873,310 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,242,698. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $64.10 and a 12 month high of $86.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.06 and a quick ratio of 0.06. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.36. The stock has a market cap of $46.19 billion, a PE ratio of 10.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.91.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.22). Aflac had a net margin of 24.92% and a return on equity of 17.59%. The business had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac 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.