Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Sells 11,657 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC cut its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 268,383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,657 shares during the quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $29,978,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at about $432,201,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 1,184.5% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,264,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,199,000 after purchasing an additional 1,165,676 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 132.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,227,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $137,078,000 after purchasing an additional 699,080 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 16.7% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,167,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $439,545,000 after purchasing an additional 594,971 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Aflac by 459.0% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 701,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,969,000 after buying an additional 575,915 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $119.00 price target (up from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Mizuho set a $107.00 price target on Aflac in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Aflac from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Aflac from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, EVP Steven Kent Beaver sold 7,387 shares of the firm’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 sale, the executive vice president owned 40,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,602,943.08. This trade represents 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.96, for a total value of $2,141,528.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 52,241,500 shares in the company, valued at $5,796,716,840. The trade was a 0.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 115,777 shares of company stock worth $12,787,908 in the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $108.73 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $111.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $110.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $119.32. The company has a market cap of $56.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 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 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 business had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Stories Impacting Aflac

Here are the key news stories impacting Aflac this week:

• Positive Sentiment: New distribution deal: Aflac announced a partnership with Empower Brokerage to distribute supplemental-insurance products, which should broaden channels for sales and support premium growth over time. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings/fundamentals context: Aflac’s Feb. 4 quarter showed an EPS miss and revenue decline year-over-year; consensus remains a “Hold” with an average target around $111. That keeps analysts cautious and caps upside absent clearer improvement in top-line trends.
• Neutral Sentiment: Human-interest coverage: Aflac ran a feature on a policyholder’s cancer journey (brand/PR positive but unlikely to move the stock materially). Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Director insider sale: Director Charles D. Lake II sold 15,590 shares (avg. ~$109.93) on Mar. 11. Insider sales can be read negatively by the market even if motivated by personal reasons; SEC Form 4 filed. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Major shareholder trimming: Post Holdings (Japan) has executed several small block sales (multiple ~17k–19k-share trades across Mar. 5–11). Sales are small relative to its >10% stake but add supply and suggest portfolio rebalancing rather than confidence-boosting buying. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Cybersecurity incident disclosed: Media reports say Aflac confirmed a cybersecurity breach; details remain limited. Potential data, remediation costs, regulatory follow-ups or client impact make this the most direct near‑term operational risk in the headlines. Read More.

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.