M&T Bank Corp Sells 58,281 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• M&T Bank Corp cut its Aflac stake by 61.6% in Q4, selling 58,281 shares and now holds 36,337 shares worth about $4.01 million.
• Aflac missed quarterly expectations (EPS $1.57 vs. $1.69 est.; revenue $4.28B vs. $4.45B), insiders — including Post Holdings’ 166,000-share sale — sold 572,632 shares (~$63.5M) in the quarter, and analysts’ consensus is mixed with an average rating of "Hold" and target of $111.82.

M&T Bank Corp trimmed its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 61.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 36,337 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 58,281 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Aflac were worth $4,007,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Aflac by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 11,827 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,321,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Courier Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 3.9% in the third quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 2,597 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 2,939 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc raised its holdings in Aflac by 3.2% during the third quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 3,169 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $354,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, Berkeley Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.9% in the third quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,669 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,303,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised shares of Aflac to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $119.00 target price (up from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Barclays set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Aflac from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Two equities 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $111.82.

Aflac Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of AFL opened at $114.71 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50-day moving average of $111.29 and a 200 day moving average of $110.72. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $96.95 and a 1-year high of $119.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11.

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 the consensus estimate of $4.45 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The business's revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.57 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total transaction of $18,655,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 51,723,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,812,641,978. This trade represents a 0.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 572,632 shares of company stock worth $63,514,634. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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