Somerset Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 519 shares during the quarter. Aflac comprises about 1.4% of Somerset Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Somerset Trust Co’s holdings in Aflac were worth $3,303,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $347,876,000. Maj Invest Holding A S raised its position in Aflac by 53.0% during the 4th quarter. Maj Invest Holding A S now owns 7,811,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,383,000 after buying an additional 2,705,661 shares during the last quarter. Ruffer LLP grew its stake in Aflac by 136.1% in the 4th quarter. Ruffer LLP now owns 1,244,352 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,342,000 after acquiring an additional 717,346 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 22,723.2% during the 4th quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 720,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,032,000 after purchasing an additional 717,144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,091,438 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $137,476,000 after acquiring an additional 685,198 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.02% of the company’s stock.
AFL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $35.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Monday, February 8th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Aflac from $40.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Aflac from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 1st. Evercore ISI raised Aflac from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $43.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Friday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Aflac from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.90.
In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 45,804 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.55, for a total value of $2,132,176.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 124,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,791,890.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Teresa L. White sold 17,716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.09, for a total value of $816,530.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,439,757.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 101,978 shares of company stock worth $4,884,687 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.
Shares of AFL traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $51.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 22,033 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,771,678. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $30.32 and a 1-year high of $52.78. The stock has a market cap of $35.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.05, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.
Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.02. Aflac had a return on equity of 12.12% and a net margin of 21.11%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.
About Aflac
Aflac, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision financial protection services. It operates through the Aflac Japan and Aflac United States (U.S.) segments. 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.
Further Reading: Green Investing
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