OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Buys 5,180 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 26.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 24,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,180 shares during the quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,738,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,142,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,301,056,000 after acquiring an additional 6,759,169 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,550,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $499,216,000 after purchasing an additional 67,650 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at about $420,078,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Aflac by 161.9% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,184,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $349,405,000 after purchasing an additional 1,968,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its position in Aflac by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,664,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $293,846,000 after purchasing an additional 32,907 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 12,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total value of $1,441,599.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 33,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,881,947.40. The trade was a 27.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total value of $3,249,789.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 50,898,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,940,362,767.90. The trade was a 0.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 744,916 shares of company stock valued at $87,118,632 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of AFL opened at $129.58 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.71, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $96.95 and a 1-year high of $129.62. The company has a 50-day moving average of $119.03 and a 200 day moving average of $114.45.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.Aflac’s revenue was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.66 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.06 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price target (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $108.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Aflac from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.17.

Aflac 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.