Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Has $14.51 Million Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 27.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 140,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 30,000 shares during the quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Aflac were worth $14,514,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Aflac by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,340,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,310,640,000 after purchasing an additional 653,275 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,465,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,286,042,000 after purchasing an additional 288,482 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at about $349,699,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,226,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,768,000 after buying an additional 47,119 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its position in Aflac by 81.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,753,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,181,000 after buying an additional 1,232,683 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total value of $3,197,456.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at $5,360,422.98. The trade was a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,733,048.59. The trade was a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Down 8.8 %

NYSE AFL opened at $101.94 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $106.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $79.31 and a one year high of $115.50. The firm has a market cap of $55.64 billion, a PE ratio of 10.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.29.

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.