AMF Tjanstepension AB Purchases 141,580 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 56.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 393,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 141,580 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB owned approximately 0.07% of Aflac worth $40,743,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at $203,000. Graypoint LLC lifted its position in Aflac by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 6,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $706,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Aflac by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 643,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $71,964,000 after purchasing an additional 3,244 shares during the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS acquired a new position in Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at about $246,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $114,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AFL. Barclays cut their target price on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $108.48 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.70. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $79.31 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The firm has a market cap of $59.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. Analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Profile

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.