Avanza Fonder AB Acquires 5,639 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Avanza Fonder AB grew its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 16.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,639 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB’s holdings in Aflac were worth $4,396,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Aflac by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,414,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $493,047,000 after buying an additional 310,220 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Aflac by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,167,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $439,545,000 after acquiring an additional 594,971 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at $432,201,000. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 0.3% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,926,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $438,621,000 after acquiring an additional 13,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 11.0% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 2,631,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $297,583,000 after acquiring an additional 261,547 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 15,590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.93, for a total value of $1,713,808.70. Following the sale, the director directly owned 62,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,841,713.41. This trade represents a 20.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 19,300 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.96, for a total transaction of $2,141,528.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 52,241,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,796,716,840. The trade was a 0.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 205,877 shares of company stock worth $22,568,556. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AFL. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $119.00 price target (up from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Aflac from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Mizuho set a $107.00 target price on Aflac in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Barclays set a $101.00 target price on Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Aflac from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.73.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock opened at $106.16 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $54.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.43, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $110.37. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $119.32.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.45 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The business’s revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.57 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Company 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.