Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $163.41 Million in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,579,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $163,409,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.28% of Aflac as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $559,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $192,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Aflac by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,616,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $167,239,000 after purchasing an additional 32,220 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI grew its holdings in Aflac by 332.1% during the fourth quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 12,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,300,000 after purchasing an additional 9,701 shares during the period. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $109,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $108.48 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $105.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $59.29 billion, a PE ratio of 11.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $79.31 and a 12 month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.36.

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.