American Century Companies Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. cut its stake in Aflac by 8.3% in Q3, selling 16,104 shares and leaving it with 178,398 shares valued at about $19.93 million.
• Recent insider and institutional selling included EVP Steven Kent Beaver offloading 7,387 shares (~$839k) and Post Holdings selling 19,300 shares (~$2.14M); insiders have sold 32,179 shares in the last 90 days while institutions own 67.44% of the stock.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of Hold with a $111.73 target; Aflac recently missed quarterly EPS ($1.57 vs. $1.69) and reported revenue down 9.6% year-over-year, with the stock trading near $110 and a P/E of 16.00.

American Century Companies Inc. decreased its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 178,398 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 16,104 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.'s holdings in Aflac were worth $19,927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in 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 in the second quarter worth $33,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its position 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 worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at $45,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on AFL. Mizuho set a $107.00 price target on Aflac in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $119.00 target price (up from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley set a $120.00 price target on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b+)" rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $111.73.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Steven Kent Beaver sold 7,387 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.58, for a total transaction of $839,015.46. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 40,526 shares in the company, valued at $4,602,943.08. This trade represents a 15.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 19,300 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 52,241,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,796,716,840. This trade represents a 0.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 32,179 shares of company stock worth $3,582,082. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL stock opened at $110.09 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $111.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $56.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.00, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.66. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $119.32.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company 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 business posted $1.57 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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