Yousif Capital Management LLC Decreases Stake in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Yousif Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 140,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,168 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $15,369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Aflac by 1,184.5% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,264,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $141,199,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165,676 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 132.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,227,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $137,078,000 after acquiring an additional 699,080 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 180.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 252,457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,320,000 after acquiring an additional 565,884 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 402.9% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 653,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,035,000 after acquiring an additional 523,845 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 65.5% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 975,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $102,861,000 after acquiring an additional 385,955 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Aflac from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Barclays set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Mizuho set a $107.00 price objective on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, December 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.00.

Aflac Stock Up 0.1%

AFL opened at $110.39 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $96.95 and a 1-year high of $119.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a 50 day moving average of $111.31 and a 200-day moving average of $110.45.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.57 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 21,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.34, for a total value of $2,372,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,913,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,728,113,522. This trade represents a 0.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 296,277 shares of company stock valued at $32,430,472 over the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.