Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lowered its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 268,383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,657 shares during the quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned 0.05% of Aflac worth $29,978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Circle Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the third quarter worth $208,000. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in Aflac by 155.4% during the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 142,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,925,000 after acquiring an additional 86,741 shares during the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Aflac during the third quarter valued at $2,315,000. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 5.7% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 234,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,236,000 after acquiring an additional 12,723 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1,184.5% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,264,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,199,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165,676 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 19,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.96, for a total value of $2,141,528.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 52,241,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,796,716,840. This represents a 0.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Kent Beaver sold 7,387 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.58, for a total value of $839,015.46. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 40,526 shares in the company, valued at $4,602,943.08. The trade was a 15.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 115,777 shares of company stock valued at $12,787,908. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aflac Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE AFL opened at $108.73 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $56.14 billion, a PE ratio of 15.80, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.66. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $119.32. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $111.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.45 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.57 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

More Aflac News

Here are the key news stories impacting Aflac this week:

• Positive Sentiment: New distribution deal: Aflac announced a partnership with Empower Brokerage to distribute supplemental-insurance products, which should broaden channels for sales and support premium growth over time. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings/fundamentals context: Aflac’s Feb. 4 quarter showed an EPS miss and revenue decline year-over-year; consensus remains a “Hold” with an average target around $111. That keeps analysts cautious and caps upside absent clearer improvement in top-line trends.
• Neutral Sentiment: Human-interest coverage: Aflac ran a feature on a policyholder’s cancer journey (brand/PR positive but unlikely to move the stock materially). Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Director insider sale: Director Charles D. Lake II sold 15,590 shares (avg. ~$109.93) on Mar. 11. Insider sales can be read negatively by the market even if motivated by personal reasons; SEC Form 4 filed. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Major shareholder trimming: Post Holdings (Japan) has executed several small block sales (multiple ~17k–19k-share trades across Mar. 5–11). Sales are small relative to its >10% stake but add supply and suggest portfolio rebalancing rather than confidence-boosting buying. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Cybersecurity incident disclosed: Media reports say Aflac confirmed a cybersecurity breach; details remain limited. Potential data, remediation costs, regulatory follow-ups or client impact make this the most direct near‑term operational risk in the headlines. Read More.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AFL. Morgan Stanley set a $120.00 price target on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Barclays set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Aflac from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Mizuho set a $107.00 price target on Aflac in a report on Monday, February 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.73.

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.