Vest Financial LLC Sells 172,231 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC cut its Aflac stake by 23.4%, selling 172,231 shares in Q4 and retaining 563,693 shares (about $62.16M), making Aflac its 27th-largest holding.
• Aflac missed Q4 estimates—EPS $1.57 vs. $1.69 expected and revenue $4.28B vs. $4.45B—while analysts' consensus is a "Hold" with an average target price of $111.82 and mixed ratings across firms.
• Institutional activity is divergent: Vanguard increased its position to 57.14M shares (+13.4%) even as insiders sold 572,632 shares in the last 90 days and institutional ownership stands at about 67.44%.

Vest Financial LLC cut its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 23.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 563,693 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 172,231 shares during the quarter. Aflac accounts for about 0.8% of Vest Financial LLC's holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Vest Financial LLC owned about 0.11% of Aflac worth $62,158,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Aflac by 13.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 6,759,169 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Aflac by 1,184.5% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,264,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $141,199,000 after purchasing an additional 1,165,676 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Aflac by 132.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,227,200 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $137,078,000 after purchasing an additional 699,080 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in Aflac by 180.5% in the third quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 252,457 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,320,000 after purchasing an additional 565,884 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP raised its position in Aflac by 402.9% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 653,853 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $73,035,000 after purchasing an additional 523,845 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on AFL shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Piper Sandler upgraded Aflac to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $119.00 price objective (up from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Evercore upgraded Aflac from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $111.82.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $114.68 on Tuesday. 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. The company has a market capitalization of $59.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a 50-day moving average of $111.29 and a 200-day moving average of $110.74.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.45 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 21.24%.The company's revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 86,155 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.24, for a total value of $9,756,192.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 51,636,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,847,367,651.80. The trade was a 0.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 572,632 shares of company stock valued at $63,514,634 in the last ninety days. 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.

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