Aflac Incorporated $AFL Holdings Lowered by Aberdeen Group plc

Aberdeen Group plc decreased its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 16.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 365,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 69,596 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.07% of Aflac worth $40,578,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 188.5% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 1,526.7% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $114.82 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $109.34. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $119.32. The stock has a market cap of $60.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.69, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.12). Aflac had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The business had revenue of $4.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.57 earnings per share. Aflac’s revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, EVP Steven Kent Beaver sold 5,492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.53, for a total transaction of $601,538.76. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 38,368 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,447.04. This trade represents a 12.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore increased their target price on Aflac from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Mizuho set a $107.00 price objective on Aflac in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $120.00 target price on Aflac in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Aflac from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $110.91.

Aflac Profile

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.