Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Stake Raised by Berkeley Capital Partners LLC

Berkeley Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 34.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,611,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth about $163,409,000. Amundi raised its position in Aflac by 81.1% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,753,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,232,683 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in Aflac by 471.4% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,080,000 after buying an additional 495,000 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Aflac by 670.9% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 556,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,572,000 after buying an additional 484,378 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth about $42,290,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,733,048.59. This trade represents a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 55,546 shares of company stock valued at $5,863,616. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $108.49 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $59.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.30, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.65. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $79.31 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on AFL. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.36.

Aflac Company 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.