Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Stock Holdings Lowered by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lessened its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,543,538 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 51,583 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned approximately 0.26% of Aflac worth $127,342,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 28.2% in the fourth quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. now owns 40,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,370,000 after purchasing an additional 8,985 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,656,000. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Aflac by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC boosted its position in Aflac by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 11,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $928,000 after acquiring an additional 764 shares during the period. Finally, Graypoint LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 5,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $483,000 after purchasing an additional 795 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE:AFL opened at $80.27 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $64.10 and a 1-year high of $86.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 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 firm had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.29 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total transaction of $666,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,735,635.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares in the company, valued at $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total value of $666,720.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 32,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,735,635.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI cut shares of Aflac from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.15.

Aflac Profile

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.