Capital One National Association reduced its stake in Aetna Inc (NYSE:AET) by 8.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,884 shares of the company’s stock after selling 715 shares during the period. Capital One National Association’s holdings in Aetna were worth $853,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AET. Jennison Associates increased its stake in shares of Aetna by 51.2% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates now owns 1,014,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,038,000 after buying an additional 343,647 shares during the period. Gerstein Fisher increased its stake in shares of Aetna by 11.4% in the third quarter. Gerstein Fisher now owns 2,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the period. Ken Stern & Associates increased its stake in shares of Aetna by 21.5% in the third quarter. Ken Stern & Associates now owns 5,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,000 after buying an additional 976 shares during the period. KBC Group increased its stake in shares of Aetna by 27.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group now owns 106,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,681,000 after buying an additional 23,174 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Aetna by 78.1% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management now owns 1,455,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,226,000 after buying an additional 638,254 shares during the period.

Shares of Aetna Inc (NYSE:AET) opened at 105.43 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $36.76 billion and a PE ratio of 16.17. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $107.33 and its 200-day moving average is $111.00. Aetna Inc has a 1-year low of $90.20 and a 1-year high of $134.40.

Aetna (NYSE:AET) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.13. The firm earned $15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.79 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Aetna Inc will post $7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 14th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. This is a boost from Aetna’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20.

Several brokerages recently commented on AET. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Aetna from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. Leerink Swann reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Aetna in a research report on Monday, November 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Aetna from $144.00 to $141.00 in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Jefferies Group downgraded shares of Aetna from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $122.00 in a research report on Friday, January 8th. Finally, RBC Capital dropped their price target on shares of Aetna from $162.00 to $146.00 in a report on Friday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $136.18.

In other Aetna news, CEO Mark T. Bertolini sold 26,996 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total value of $2,969,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 729,194 shares in the company, valued at $80,211,340. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Margaret M. Mccarthy sold 18,373 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.97, for a total transaction of $2,020,478.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 63,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,984,744.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Aetna Inc. is a diversified health care benefits company. The Company offers a range of traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services. The Company’s operations are conducted in three business segments: Health Care, Group Insurance and Large Case Pensions. The Company’s Health Care segment includes medical, pharmacy benefit management services, dental, behavioral health and vision plans. The Company’s Group Insurance segment’s products consist primarily of Life Insurance Products, Disability Insurance Products and Long-Term Care Insurance Products. The Company’s Large Case Pensions segment manages a variety of retirement products (NYSE:AET) primarily for tax-qualified pension plans. The Company’s customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, health care providers, Governmental units, Government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates.

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