Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Sold by Brevan Howard Capital Management LP

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP decreased its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 64.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 87,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 158,136 shares during the quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP’s holdings in Aflac were worth $9,754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in Aflac by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 21,346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,384,000 after buying an additional 439 shares during the period. Circle Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at $208,000. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in Aflac by 155.4% in the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 142,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,925,000 after purchasing an additional 86,741 shares during the period. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the third quarter valued at $2,315,000. Finally, Creative Planning grew its stake in Aflac by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 234,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,236,000 after purchasing an additional 12,723 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $108.73 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $111.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $110.31. The company has a market capitalization of $56.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.66. 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.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.12). Aflac had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The business had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.57 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 15,590 shares of the business’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 transaction of $1,713,808.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 62,237 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,841,713.41. The trade was a 20.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 19,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.96, for a total transaction of $2,141,528.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 52,241,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,796,716,840. The trade was a 0.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 115,777 shares of company stock worth $12,787,908 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho set a $107.00 price target on Aflac in a report on Monday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Aflac from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $119.00 target price (up from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Barclays set a $101.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.73.

Key Stories Impacting Aflac

Here are the key news stories impacting Aflac this week:

• Positive Sentiment: New distribution deal: Aflac announced a partnership with Empower Brokerage to distribute supplemental-insurance products, which should broaden channels for sales and support premium growth over time. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings/fundamentals context: Aflac’s Feb. 4 quarter showed an EPS miss and revenue decline year-over-year; consensus remains a “Hold” with an average target around $111. That keeps analysts cautious and caps upside absent clearer improvement in top-line trends.
• Neutral Sentiment: Human-interest coverage: Aflac ran a feature on a policyholder’s cancer journey (brand/PR positive but unlikely to move the stock materially). Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Director insider sale: Director Charles D. Lake II sold 15,590 shares (avg. ~$109.93) on Mar. 11. Insider sales can be read negatively by the market even if motivated by personal reasons; SEC Form 4 filed. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Major shareholder trimming: Post Holdings (Japan) has executed several small block sales (multiple ~17k–19k-share trades across Mar. 5–11). Sales are small relative to its >10% stake but add supply and suggest portfolio rebalancing rather than confidence-boosting buying. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Cybersecurity incident disclosed: Media reports say Aflac confirmed a cybersecurity breach; details remain limited. Potential data, remediation costs, regulatory follow-ups or client impact make this the most direct near‑term operational risk in the headlines. Read More.

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.