Foster & Motley Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Foster & Motley Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 84,589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,012 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $9,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AFL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Aflac by 7.6% in 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 during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 16.7% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,167,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $439,545,000 after buying an additional 594,971 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Aflac by 0.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 13,666 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in Aflac by 11.0% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 5.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 97,766 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on AFL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $113.00 target price on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $120.00 target price on Aflac in a research note on Monday, December 15th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. 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. According to MarketBeat, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 14,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.03, for a total value of $1,519,826.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 52,018,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,567,550,758. This represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 15,590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.93, for a total value of $1,713,808.70. Following the sale, the director owned 62,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,841,713.41. This trade represents a 20.03% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 235,077 shares of company stock valued at $25,690,082 over the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac Stock Up 1.5%

AFL opened at $108.05 on Tuesday. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $111.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.38. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $119.32. The company has a market cap of $55.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.71, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.66.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $4.28 billion during 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 business’s revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.57 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal 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.