Forefront Wealth Management Inc. Takes Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Forefront Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 6.4% during the third 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 valued at $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 fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,226,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,768,000 after buying an additional 47,119 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 81.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,753,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $285,181,000 after buying an additional 1,232,683 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,395,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $247,682,000 after buying an additional 118,720 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 32,220 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price on the stock. Two research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.36.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was 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 owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total value of $3,197,456.58. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at $5,360,422.98. This trade represents a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,546 shares of company stock valued at $5,863,616 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Down 0.6 %

AFL stock opened at $108.10 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $79.31 and a twelve month high of $115.50. 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 stock has a market cap of $59.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.26, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $105.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.64.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

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.