Citigroup Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Citigroup Inc. reduced its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 28.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 783,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 315,751 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned about 0.15% of Aflac worth $87,463,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 188.5% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 1,526.7% during the second 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. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Aflac by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Aflac

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AFL. Barclays set a $101.00 target price on shares of Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Aflac from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $119.00 target price (up from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Evercore boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.91.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $114.07 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $111.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $109.74. The stock has a market cap of $59.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.67. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $119.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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