Swedbank AB Cuts Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Swedbank AB reduced its Aflac stake by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 11,336 shares and leaving it with 276,878 shares valued at about $30.5 million.
• Analyst sentiment on Aflac is mixed: Evercore upgraded the stock to strong-buy, while other firms issued hold or underweight views. The consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $111.82.
• Aflac reported quarterly EPS of $1.75, missing estimates, though revenue came in at $4.24 billion and rose 27.9% year over year. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, payable June 1.

Swedbank AB trimmed its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 276,878 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 11,336 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned about 0.05% of Aflac worth $30,531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $6,301,056,000 after buying an additional 6,759,169 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 310,220 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Aflac by 0.3% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,926,777 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $438,621,000 after buying an additional 13,666 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its position in Aflac by 11.0% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 2,631,876 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $297,583,000 after buying an additional 261,547 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Aflac by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,866,471 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $206,712,000 after buying an additional 97,766 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on AFL. Evercore upgraded shares of Aflac from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Barclays set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Aflac and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $111.82.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of Aflac 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 51,723,100 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,641,978. This trade represents a 0.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 814,028 shares of company stock worth $91,815,931. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac Stock Down 0.1%

AFL opened at $117.78 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $96.95 and a 1-year high of $119.81. The company has a market capitalization of $59.95 billion, a PE ratio of 13.37, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.62. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $112.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $111.68.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Aflac's payout ratio is currently 27.70%.

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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