Millstone Evans Group LLC Makes New Investment in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 470 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $49,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 55,546 shares of company stock worth $5,863,616. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.36.

Aflac Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:AFL opened at $108.10 on Monday. 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 market cap of $59.08 billion, a PE ratio of 11.26, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $79.31 and a 52-week high of $115.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $105.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.61.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.