Impax Asset Management Group plc Boosts Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,540 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,880,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Baystate Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 24.1% during the third quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Dominguez Wealth Management Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Aflac by 0.5% during the third quarter. Dominguez Wealth Management Solutions Inc. now owns 24,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,916,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 2.3% during the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Aflac by 3.7% during the third quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $290,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Aflac by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $243,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com downgraded Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.00.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $82.91 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $81.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.35. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $64.10 and a 52-week high of $86.26. The firm has a market cap of $47.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.70, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.22). Aflac had a net margin of 24.92% and a return on equity of 17.59%. The business had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.29 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total value of $666,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,735,635.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total value of $666,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,735,635.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total value of $2,436,695.63. Following the transaction, the director now owns 86,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,879,451.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac Profile

Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides supplemental health and life insurance products. The company operates through Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S. segments. The Aflac Japan segment offers cancer, medical, nursing care, work leave, GIFT, and whole and term life insurance products, as well as WAYS and child endowment plans under saving type insurance products in Japan.