Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Bought by Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 169,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,573 shares during the quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ’s holdings in Aflac were worth $18,917,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. lifted its position in Aflac by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 11,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,321,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Courier Capital LLC grew its position in Aflac by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 2,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $290,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its position in Aflac by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 2,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc increased its stake in Aflac by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 3,169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $354,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, Berkeley Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Aflac by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,303,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other news, EVP Steven Kent Beaver sold 5,492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.53, for a total transaction of $601,538.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 38,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,202,447.04. This trade represents a 12.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Barclays set a $101.00 target price on shares of Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $120.00 target price on Aflac in a research report on Monday, December 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Aflac from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Evercore upped their price objective on Aflac from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $119.00 price objective (up previously from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $110.91.

Aflac Stock Up 1.2%

AFL opened at $114.07 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The company has a market cap of $59.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.58, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.67. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $119.32. The business’s fifty day moving average is $111.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.74.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $4.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.45 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 21.24%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.57 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.