Alberta Investment Management Corp Raises Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Key Points

• Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its stake in Aflac by 467.9%, acquiring an additional 36,500 shares, bringing its total holdings to 44,300 shares valued at approximately $4.9 million.
• Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings in Aflac, with Brighton Jones LLC increasing its stake by 64.4% and Resona Asset Management acquiring a new position valued at around $17.8 million.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Aflac's stock, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and average target price of $108.15, while JPMorgan Chase raised its target from $96.00 to $100.00.

Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 467.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,300 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 36,500 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp's holdings in Aflac were worth $4,926,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Aflac by 64.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 5,708 shares during the period. OneAscent Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in Aflac by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 2,349 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors raised its holdings in Aflac by 28.4% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 6,817 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,507 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $17,843,000. Finally, Aviva PLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 321,523 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,258,000 after acquiring an additional 59,080 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen cut Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Aflac from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays set a $98.00 target price on Aflac and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $108.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total value of $290,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $711,149.60. This represents a 29.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total value of $3,906,830.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 70,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,496,045.28. The trade was a 34.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 40,750 shares of company stock worth $4,304,295. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $98.10 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $95.97 and a one year high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a current ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market cap of $53.04 billion, a PE ratio of 15.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $102.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.06.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 21.27%. The company's revenue was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.66 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides supplemental health and life insurance products. The company operates through Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S. segments. The Aflac Japan segment offers cancer, medical, nursing care, work leave, GIFT, and whole and term life insurance products, as well as WAYS and child endowment plans under saving type insurance products in Japan.

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