8,239 Shares in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Acquired by Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 8,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $852,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,694,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $524,846,000 after acquiring an additional 281,148 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,226,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $333,768,000 after acquiring an additional 47,119 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 81.1% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,753,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,232,683 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,395,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $247,682,000 after acquiring an additional 118,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,616,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $167,239,000 after acquiring an additional 32,220 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL stock opened at $104.67 on Thursday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $79.31 and a 52-week high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $105.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.70. The company has a market capitalization of $57.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.90, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.36.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total transaction of $3,197,456.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at $5,360,422.98. This represents a 37.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total transaction of $107,630.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,733,048.59. This trade represents a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,546 shares of company stock worth $5,863,616 over the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.