Ticino Wealth Buys New Stake in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Ticino Wealth bought a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $699,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Aflac by 0.8% in the third quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 11,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,321,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Courier Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 2,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 2,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 2,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, Stiles Financial Services Inc boosted its stake in Aflac by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 3,169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho set a $102.00 price target on Aflac and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $119.00 target price (up from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Two equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.82.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $115.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $59.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.73, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.66. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $119.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $111.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.64.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.12). Aflac had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The firm had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 86,155 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.24, for a total value of $9,756,192.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,636,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,847,367,651.80. This represents a 0.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 572,632 shares of company stock valued at $63,514,634. 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.