National Pension Service Buys 30,827 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL – Get Rating) by 2.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,190,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,827 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.19% of Aflac worth $67,370,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Capital Wealth Alliance LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Horizons Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 19,291 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.36, for a total transaction of $1,357,314.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 87,598 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,163,395.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 19,291 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.36, for a total transaction of $1,357,314.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 87,598 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,163,395.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.98, for a total transaction of $35,990.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,421,676.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 6th. Evercore ISI set a $66.00 price target on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, November 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Aflac from $78.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 24th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 18th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.75.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $61.24 on Thursday. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $52.07 and a fifty-two week high of $74.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.06 and a quick ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $69.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.75.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $4.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.49 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 21.54% and a return on equity of 13.69%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Aflac

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Aflac, Inc is a holding company. engages in the provision of financial protection services. It operates through the followings segments: Aflac Japan and Aflac United States (U.S.). The Aflac Japan segment offers life insurance, death benefits, and cash surrender values. The Aflac U.S. segment sells voluntary supplemental insurance products for people who already have major medical or primary insurance coverage.