Cerity Partners LLC Acquires 31,717 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 27.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 146,095 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 31,717 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $12,053,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Studio Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 471.4% during the 3rd quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 400 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Aflac Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of AFL stock traded down $0.01 during trading on Monday, reaching $80.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,437,101 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,245,402. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $81.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $46.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $64.10 and a one year high of $86.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.22). Aflac had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 24.92%. The firm had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.29 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 17,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 17,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,516,390.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at $6,879,451.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Aflac from an "in-line" rating to an "underperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $82.15.

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.