Natixis Advisors LLC Buys 10,765 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC increased its ownership of Aflac Incorporated by 4.1% in Q1, acquiring an additional 10,765 shares, bringing their total to 271,607 shares valued at approximately $30.2 million.
• Various institutional investors, including NorthRock Partners LLC and Meeder Asset Management Inc., have also adjusted their positions in Aflac during the same period, highlighting increased interest from institutional stakeholders.
• Aflac's quarterly earnings report revealed an EPS of $1.66, missing estimates by $0.01, alongside a significant revenue drop of 37.5% year-over-year, raising concerns about the company's financial performance.

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 4.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 271,607 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,765 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $30,200,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. NorthRock Partners LLC grew its position in Aflac by 1.5% during the first quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $725,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in Aflac during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,087,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Aflac by 90.8% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 330 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in Aflac by 1.6% during the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 17,064 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,897,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wincap Financial LLC grew its position in Aflac by 3.9% during the first quarter. Wincap Financial LLC now owns 12,915 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,436,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on AFL. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut their target price on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $108.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total transaction of $290,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $711,149.60. This trade represents a 29.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.79, for a total value of $106,790.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 26,096 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,786,791.84. This represents a 3.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 40,750 shares of company stock valued at $4,304,295. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $98.10 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $102.58 and a 200 day moving average of $105.06. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $95.97 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.33, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 business's revenue was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current 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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