Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Decreases Stake in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund cut its Aflac stake by 72% in the first quarter, selling 689,342 shares and retaining 268,521 shares valued at approximately $29.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 67.44% of Aflac.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $116.17. Recent target changes ranged from Barclays’ $98 target to Morgan Stanley’s $125 target.
• Aflac shares opened at $125.61, near their 52-week high of $125.93. Although quarterly revenue rose 27.9% year over year to $4.24 billion, earnings of $1.75 per share fell short of the $1.80 analyst consensus.

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lowered its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 72.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 268,521 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 689,342 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned 0.05% of Aflac worth $29,459,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Aflac by 13.4% during the fourth 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 period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position 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 valued at $499,216,000 after purchasing an additional 67,650 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $420,078,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $349,405,000 after purchasing an additional 1,968,738 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.3% during 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. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AFL shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. TD Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $110.00 target price (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and set a $108.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Evercore raised shares of Aflac from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $116.17.

Aflac Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of AFL opened at $125.61 on Monday. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $125.93. The business has a 50-day moving average of $118.64 and a 200 day moving average of $114.21. The firm has a market cap of $63.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. Aflac's revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.66 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 12,370 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total transaction of $1,441,599.80. Following the sale, the director owned 33,310 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,881,947.40. The trade was a 27.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total value of $3,249,789.95. Following the sale, the insider owned 50,898,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,940,362,767.90. This represents a 0.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 744,916 shares of company stock worth $87,118,632. Insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

About Aflac

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AFL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.