Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Boosts Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 87.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 172,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 80,350 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Aflac were worth $18,873,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Navalign LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Aflac by 95.6% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total value of $18,655,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,723,100 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,641,978. This trade represents a 0.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 1,042,771 shares of company stock worth $120,575,104 in the last quarter. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL opened at $120.73 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $96.95 and a 12-month high of $120.88. The stock has a market cap of $61.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.70, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50 day moving average of $116.30 and a 200-day moving average of $112.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 27.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AFL shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Barclays set a $99.00 target price on shares of Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.27.

About Aflac

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.