Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Purchased by Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 31.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Aflac were worth $172,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth about $175,416,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Aflac by 62.4% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,936,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $317,865,000 after acquiring an additional 1,897,212 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Aflac by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,812,956 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $634,004,000 after buying an additional 1,640,984 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $72,249,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 67.3% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,712,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $119,539,000 after buying an additional 689,173 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered shares of Aflac from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.15.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL opened at $80.98 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $64.10 and a 52-week high of $86.26. The company has a 50 day moving average of $82.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.46. The company has a market cap of $46.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.91.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.22). Aflac had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 24.92%. The business had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total value of $666,720.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,735,635.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares in the company, valued at $1,516,390.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

About Aflac

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.