Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 8,425 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Handelsbanken Fonder AB decreased its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 142,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,425 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Aflac were worth $15,906,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 188.5% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 100.0% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. JCIC Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Aflac in the third quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in Aflac by 110.9% in the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $839,015.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold 16,331 shares of company stock worth $1,817,720 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $112.75 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $96.95 and a 52-week high of $119.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market cap of $58.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $111.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.03.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on AFL. Mizuho set a $107.00 price objective on Aflac in a report on Monday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Evercore raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $119.00 target price (up from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.73.

Aflac Company Profile

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.