Eads & Heald Wealth Management Has $2.93 Million Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Eads & Heald Wealth Management reduced its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 35,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,687 shares during the quarter. Aflac makes up about 1.4% of Eads & Heald Wealth Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Eads & Heald Wealth Management’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,933,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Aflac by 1.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,208,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,160,465,000 after buying an additional 605,210 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in shares of Aflac by 0.7% during the second quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 16,415,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,145,794,000 after buying an additional 107,554 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 0.9% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,888,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $765,297,000 after buying an additional 105,298 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Aflac by 9.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,643,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $740,141,000 after acquiring an additional 794,784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 5.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,295,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $559,953,000 after buying an additional 368,704 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE AFL traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $80.27. 2,437,101 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,245,402. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $64.10 and a 1 year high of $86.26. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.22). Aflac had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 24.92%. The company had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,920 shares in the company, valued at $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $239,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,592 shares in the company, valued at $445,850.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,390.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Aflac from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.15.

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.