J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG acquired a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 24,558 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,540,000.
Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $349,699,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $163,409,000. Amundi increased its position in Aflac by 81.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,753,513 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $285,181,000 after buying an additional 1,232,683 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Aflac by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,340,298 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,310,640,000 after buying an additional 653,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Aflac by 670.9% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 556,576 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $57,572,000 after purchasing an additional 484,378 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total transaction of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,733,048.59. The trade was a 3.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total value of $3,197,456.58. Following the transaction, the director now owns 49,962 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,360,422.98. This trade represents a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays cut their price target on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $111.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Aflac from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $103.93.
View Our Latest Research Report on AFL
Aflac Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE:AFL traded down $1.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $107.96. The company had a trading volume of 1,829,748 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,119,592. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $80.59 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The company has a fifty day moving average of $107.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.07. The company has a market cap of $58.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08.
Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.
About Aflac
(
Free Report)
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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