4,046 Shares in Aflac Incorporated $AFL Bought by Hilltop Holdings Inc.

Hilltop Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 4,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $444,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 21,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,420,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Compound Planning Inc. lifted its stake in Aflac by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 13,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,508,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its position in Aflac by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 19,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,105,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its position in Aflac by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $902,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 12,370 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total value of $1,441,599.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 33,310 shares in the company, valued at $3,881,947.40. This trade represents a 27.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total transaction of $3,249,789.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 50,898,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,940,362,767.90. This represents a 0.05% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 744,916 shares of company stock worth $87,118,632 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Up 0.8%

NYSE:AFL opened at $126.61 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.61. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $126.87. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $118.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $114.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 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 company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AFL. Piper Sandler reaffirmed 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. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Evercore raised shares of Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Aflac from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $116.17.

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.