Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Bought by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 454,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,877 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $50,769,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Aflac by 10.4% in the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,731,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $193,407,000 after acquiring an additional 163,791 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Aflac by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,768,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $196,662,000 after purchasing an additional 65,308 shares in the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Aflac by 126.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 21,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,384,000 after buying an additional 11,903 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 12.0% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 97,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,841,000 after buying an additional 10,423 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Aflac by 31.0% during the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 55,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,146,000 after acquiring an additional 13,017 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $119.00 target price (up from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Mizuho set a $107.00 price target on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Barclays set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $120.00 price target on Aflac in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, EVP Steven Kent Beaver sold 7,387 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.58, for a total transaction of $839,015.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 40,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,602,943.08. The trade was a 15.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 19,300 shares of the 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 directly owned 52,241,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,796,716,840. The trade was a 0.04% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 51,279 shares of company stock worth $5,697,789 over the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL opened at $110.35 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $119.32. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $111.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $110.30. The company has a market capitalization of $56.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.66.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.45 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

About Aflac

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.