Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Lowers Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. trimmed its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 16,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 481 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,737,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $349,699,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth about $163,409,000. Amundi increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,232,683 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,340,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,310,640,000 after purchasing an additional 653,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 670.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 556,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,572,000 after purchasing an additional 484,378 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of AFL stock opened at $112.32 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $79.31 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $106.87 and its 200 day moving average is $107.74.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. Research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total value of $3,197,456.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at $5,360,422.98. This represents a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,733,048.59. This represents a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.29.

Aflac 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.