Arlington Trust Co LLC Takes Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $35,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AFL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $175,416,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 62.4% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,936,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $317,865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,897,212 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Aflac by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,812,956 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $634,004,000 after acquiring an additional 1,640,984 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $72,249,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in Aflac by 67.3% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,712,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $119,539,000 after acquiring an additional 689,173 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total value of $2,436,695.63. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,879,451.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at $6,879,451.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL opened at $85.42 on Monday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $64.06 and a 52-week high of $86.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.15 billion, a PE ratio of 11.02, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.91. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $81.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.23.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.22). Aflac had a net margin of 24.92% and a return on equity of 17.59%. The business had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on AFL. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Aflac from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James boosted their target price on Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $81.58.

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.