Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Purchased by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 163.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 16,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,302 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,371,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Morgan Stanley lifted 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 valued at $740,141,000 after purchasing an additional 794,784 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at $47,492,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,208,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,160,465,000 after acquiring an additional 605,210 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 8,861.1% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 449,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,113,000 after acquiring an additional 444,829 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,295,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $559,953,000 after acquiring an additional 368,704 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Aflac from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $78.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.15.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total value of $666,720.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 32,825 shares in the company, valued at $2,735,635.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now owns 5,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $445,850.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total transaction of $666,720.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,825 shares in the company, valued at $2,735,635.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706 in the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Trading Up 1.1 %

Aflac stock opened at $84.54 on Tuesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $64.10 and a 12 month high of $86.26. 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 cap of $48.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.82.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.