Nordea Investment Management AB Grows Stake in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,866,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 97,766 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB owned about 0.36% of Aflac worth $206,712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 310,220 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Aflac by 16.7% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,167,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $439,545,000 after purchasing an additional 594,971 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Aflac during the second quarter valued at $432,201,000. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Aflac by 0.3% in 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 buying an additional 13,666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 11.0% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 2,631,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $297,583,000 after buying an additional 261,547 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 15,590 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $6,841,713.41. This represents a 20.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 19,300 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 52,241,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,796,716,840. This trade represents a 0.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 178,977 shares of company stock valued at $19,695,019. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE:AFL opened at $106.38 on Monday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $119.32. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $111.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The company has a market cap of $54.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.66.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced 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). Aflac had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The company had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $119.00 price target (up from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Mizuho set a $107.00 price objective on Aflac in a report on Monday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Aflac from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $120.00 target price on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.73.

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.