LSV Asset Management Has $215.33 Million Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

LSV Asset Management lowered its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 25.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,081,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 724,600 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management owned approximately 0.37% of Aflac worth $215,331,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Aflac by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 67,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,960,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 125.6% during the 4th quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 4,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $422,000 after acquiring an additional 2,272 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. raised its position in Aflac by 84.8% in the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 401,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,061,000 after purchasing an additional 183,997 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC raised its position in Aflac by 341.7% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 128,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,276,000 after purchasing an additional 99,291 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in shares of Aflac by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 71,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,355,000 after acquiring an additional 4,866 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total value of $3,197,456.58. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. This trade represents a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total transaction of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,733,048.59. This represents a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.29.

Aflac Trading Up 5.7 %

NYSE AFL opened at $105.45 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. The company has a market capitalization of $57.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $106.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.48. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $79.31 and a one year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. Equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides supplemental health and life insurance products. The company operates through Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S. segments. The Aflac Japan segment offers cancer, medical, nursing care, work leave, GIFT, and whole and term life insurance products, as well as WAYS and child endowment plans under saving type insurance products in Japan.