Strs Ohio Lowers Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Strs Ohio trimmed its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 26,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,060 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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 about $175,416,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Aflac by 62.4% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,936,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $317,865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,897,212 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Aflac by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,812,956 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $634,004,000 after buying an additional 1,640,984 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $72,249,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 67.3% in the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,712,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $119,539,000 after buying an additional 689,173 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,879,451.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total transaction of $2,436,695.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at $6,879,451.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 17,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. StockNews.com cut Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.15.

Aflac Trading Up 2.8 %

NYSE:AFL opened at $83.23 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $82.21 and a 200 day moving average of $81.50. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $64.10 and a 52 week high of $86.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 24.92% and a return on equity of 17.59%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current year.

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.