Handelsbanken Fonder AB Increases Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 216,287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,894 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Aflac were worth $17,844,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Aflac by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,643,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $740,141,000 after purchasing an additional 794,784 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth $47,492,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,208,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,160,465,000 after acquiring an additional 605,210 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 8,861.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 449,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,113,000 after acquiring an additional 444,829 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,295,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $559,953,000 after acquiring an additional 368,704 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $83.52 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a current ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.06 billion, a PE ratio of 10.78, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.91. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $64.10 and a 1 year high of $86.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.22). Aflac had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 24.92%. The business had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total transaction of $2,436,695.63. Following the sale, the director now owns 86,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,879,451.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total transaction of $2,436,695.63. Following the sale, the director now owns 86,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,879,451.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $239,190.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $445,850.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Raymond James raised their target price on Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.15.

About Aflac

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.