Conning Inc. Trims Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Conning Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 15.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 400,362 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 71,038 shares during the period. Conning Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Aflac worth $32,963,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 36.2% in the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,941 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 6,369 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 17,268 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,112,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 210,634 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,563,000 after buying an additional 1,503 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management acquired a new position in Aflac during the 1st quarter worth $428,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,142 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock traded up $0.64 during trading on Friday, reaching $80.28. 2,882,756 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,126,701. The company has a market capitalization of $46.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.36, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm's 50-day moving average is $81.88 and its 200 day moving average is $81.42. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $64.10 and a 1 year high of $86.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced 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). The business had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.44 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 24.92% and a return on equity of 17.59%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on AFL. Evercore ISI cut shares of Aflac from an "in-line" rating to an "underperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $81.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the company'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 transaction of $423,100.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the company'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 transaction of $423,100.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total transaction of $666,720.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 32,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,735,635.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

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.