KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Has $39.77 Million Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 16.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 360,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 50,200 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in Aflac were worth $39,771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. BIP Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 348.3% during the fourth quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 55,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,145,000 after purchasing an additional 43,293 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 10.4% during the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,731,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $193,407,000 after purchasing an additional 163,791 shares in the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 126.1% during the third quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 21,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,384,000 after purchasing an additional 11,903 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake 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 valued at $206,712,000 after purchasing an additional 97,766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 12.0% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 97,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,841,000 after purchasing an additional 10,423 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total transaction of $18,655,080.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 572,632 shares of company stock worth $63,514,634 in the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $114.76 on Thursday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $119.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The company has a market capitalization of $59.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a 50-day moving average of $111.31 and a 200-day moving average of $110.70.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Aflac had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 21.24%.The company had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.57 earnings per share. Aflac’s revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $119.00 price target (up from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Aflac from $118.00 to $116.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays set a $101.00 price target on Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.82.

Aflac Profile

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.