Approach Retirement Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Approach Retirement Advisors bought a new position of 106,635 Aflac shares worth about $11.76 million in Q4, making Aflac 10.1% of the firm's holdings and its second-largest position.
• Multiple large institutions — including AQR, Franklin Resources, Mercer, Two Sigma and Dimensional — significantly increased their Aflac stakes, and institutional investors now own about 67.44% of the company.
• Aflac missed quarterly expectations (EPS $1.57 vs. $1.69 consensus) with revenue down 9.6% year-over-year, and Wall Street maintains a consensus "Hold" rating with a $111.82 price target.

Approach Retirement Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 106,635 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $11,759,000. Aflac comprises 10.1% of Approach Retirement Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,165,676 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted 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 purchasing an additional 699,080 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted 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 purchasing an additional 565,884 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted 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 purchasing an additional 523,845 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,414,180 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $493,047,000 after purchasing an additional 310,220 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Aflac Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE:AFL opened at $114.71 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.66. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $119.32. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $111.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.74. 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 (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.45 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 21.24%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.57 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays set a $101.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Evercore upgraded Aflac from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Mizuho set a $102.00 target price on Aflac and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $119.00 target price (up from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $111.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total transaction of $18,655,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,723,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,812,641,978. The trade was a 0.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 572,632 shares of company stock worth $63,514,634. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by 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.

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