Sandy Spring Bank Has $2.33 Million Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Sandy Spring Bank lessened its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 699 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AFL. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth about $163,409,000. Amundi raised its holdings in Aflac by 81.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,753,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $285,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,232,683 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in Aflac by 471.4% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $67,080,000 after acquiring an additional 495,000 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Aflac by 670.9% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 556,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,572,000 after acquiring an additional 484,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,290,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.36.

Aflac Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE AFL opened at $108.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $59.39 billion, a PE ratio of 11.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $79.31 and a one year high of $115.50. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,733,048.59. The trade was a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,546 shares of company stock worth $5,863,616 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

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.