Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Bought by Gotham Asset Management LLC

Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 313,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 55,762 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC owned 0.06% of Aflac worth $35,040,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 188.5% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 100.0% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho set a $107.00 target price on Aflac in a report on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen cut Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Barclays set a $101.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.73.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL stock opened at $109.10 on Tuesday. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $119.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $111.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $110.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.33 billion, a PE ratio of 15.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.66. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.12). Aflac had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 21.24%.The firm had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.45 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, EVP Steven Kent Beaver sold 7,387 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.58, for a total transaction of $839,015.46. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 40,526 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,602,943.08. The trade was a 15.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 19,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.96, for a total transaction of $2,141,528.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 52,241,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,796,716,840. This trade represents a 0.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 133,677 shares of company stock valued at $14,749,748. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Company Profile

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.