Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. Raises Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. grew its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 202,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,822 shares during the period. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $22,277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 310,220 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Aflac by 16.7% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,167,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $439,545,000 after acquiring an additional 594,971 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.3% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,926,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $438,621,000 after purchasing an additional 13,666 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in shares of Aflac by 11.0% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 2,631,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $297,583,000 after purchasing an additional 261,547 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Aflac by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,866,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $206,712,000 after purchasing an additional 97,766 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Aflac from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $119.00 price objective (up from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Mizuho set a $107.00 price objective on Aflac in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “hold” rating and set a $113.00 target price on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.00.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $109.66 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $119.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.94, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11.

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

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 15,590 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was 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 $6,841,713.41. This represents a 20.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 19,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.96, for a total value of $2,141,528.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 52,241,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,796,716,840. This represents a 0.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 235,077 shares of company stock worth $25,690,082 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

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.