Invesco Ltd. Sells 253,316 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Invesco Ltd. decreased its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,665,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 253,316 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned 0.66% of Aflac worth $379,128,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Aflac by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,340,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,310,640,000 after acquiring an additional 653,275 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,465,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,286,042,000 after purchasing an additional 288,482 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $349,699,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Aflac by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,226,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,768,000 after buying an additional 47,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in Aflac by 81.1% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,753,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,181,000 after buying an additional 1,232,683 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total value of $3,197,456.58. Following the sale, the director now owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. This represents a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total transaction of $107,630.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,733,048.59. This represents a 3.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL opened at $105.45 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $106.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.56 billion, a PE ratio of 10.98, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $79.31 and a 52-week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on AFL. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.29.

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.