OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Buys 5,180 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 26.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,180 shares during the quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,738,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA purchased a new position in Aflac during the first quarter valued at $750,000. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 11.4% in the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 21,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,371,000 after acquiring an additional 2,206 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 382.1% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 667,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,253,000 after purchasing an additional 529,200 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter worth $444,000. Finally, Compound Planning Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 13,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,508,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AFL. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $124.00 price objective (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Aflac from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Evercore upgraded Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $116.17.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $129.58 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $119.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $114.45. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $129.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.71, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.61.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.66 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total transaction of $7,441,560.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 51,169,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,044,133,662.20. The trade was a 0.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 744,916 shares of company stock valued at $87,118,632 in the last ninety days. Company 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.