Schroder Investment Management Group Reduces Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Schroder Investment Management Group cut its Aflac stake by 10% in the third quarter, selling 19,559 shares and holding 176,758 shares valued at about $19.74 million.
• Aflac disclosed a cybersecurity incident that is under investigation, posing potential near-term remediation, regulatory, legal and reputational risks.
• The company missed quarterly expectations with EPS of $1.57 versus $1.69 and revenue down 9.6%, and Wall Street’s consensus rating is "Hold" with an average price target of $111.73.

Schroder Investment Management Group reduced its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 10.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 176,758 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 19,559 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group's holdings in Aflac were worth $19,744,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AFL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at about $432,201,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Aflac by 16.7% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,167,886 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $439,545,000 after acquiring an additional 594,971 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Aflac by 459.0% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 701,390 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $73,969,000 after purchasing an additional 575,915 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Aflac by 65.5% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 975,357 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $102,861,000 after purchasing an additional 385,955 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 7.6% during the third 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. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Aflac this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Empower Brokerage announced a partnership to distribute Aflac products, expanding Aflac's distribution footprint and potentially boosting US sales/renewals over time; a tangible revenue/distribution win that can support growth expectations. Empower Brokerage Begins Partnership with Aflac
• Neutral Sentiment: Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan — a >10% Aflac shareholder — has sold small blocks of stock across multiple days (totaling tens of thousands of shares), each a tiny fraction (0.03–0.04%) of its position; routine disclosed selling that reduces insider optics but so far appears strategic/liquidity-driven rather than a signal of operational trouble. Insider Selling: Aflac NYSE: AFL Major Shareholder Sells $1,896,426.00 in Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Aflac disclosed a cybersecurity incident — coverage indicates a breach is under investigation. Cybersecurity events can create near-term costs (forensics, remediation, notification/regulatory) and reputational risk; watch for Aflac's follow-up disclosures about scope, affected systems/data, customer impact, and any regulatory or legal implications. Aflac hit by cybersecurity breach

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Aflac from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Mizuho set a $107.00 target price on Aflac in a research note on Monday, February 9th. TD Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Barclays set a $101.00 price target on Aflac and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $111.73.

Insider Activity

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 19,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.47, for a total transaction of $2,098,930.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 52,186,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,764,998,467. The trade was a 0.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Kent Beaver sold 7,387 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.58, for a total value of $839,015.46. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 40,526 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,602,943.08. The trade was a 15.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 82,087 shares of company stock valued at $9,091,606 in the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL stock opened at $109.61 on Friday. 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 Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $119.32. The company has a market cap of $56.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.66. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $111.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.12). Aflac had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The business had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

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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