Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 10,144 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Bank of Nova Scotia lessened its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 12.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 71,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,144 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Aflac were worth $7,808,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. DNB Asset Management AS boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 51.3% in the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 168,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,526,000 after acquiring an additional 56,975 shares in the last quarter. BIP Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Aflac by 348.3% during the 4th quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 55,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,145,000 after purchasing an additional 43,293 shares during the last quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,743,000. Dorato Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $20,865,000. Finally, Atlas Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth $1,802,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $125.61 on Monday. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $125.93. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $118.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $114.21. The company has a market capitalization of $63.93 billion, a PE ratio of 14.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business’s revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AFL. Evercore raised shares of Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Mizuho set a $112.00 target price on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total transaction of $7,441,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,169,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,044,133,662.20. This represents a 0.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 744,916 shares of company stock worth $87,118,632. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.