Ritholtz Wealth Management Has $1.65 Million Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 24.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,894 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,650,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Baystate Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 24.1% during the third quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Dominguez Wealth Management Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dominguez Wealth Management Solutions Inc. now owns 24,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,916,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL stock opened at $85.86 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $49.40 billion, a PE ratio of 11.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.91. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $81.72 and a 200-day moving average of $80.77. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $63.08 and a 12-month high of $86.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.22). Aflac had a net margin of 24.92% and a return on equity of 17.59%. The firm had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $239,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $445,850.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total value of $2,436,695.63. Following the sale, the director now owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at $6,879,451.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $239,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $445,850.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Aflac from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Raymond James upped their price target on Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.36.

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.