Royal Bank of Canada Raises Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 18.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,025,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 158,350 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.20% of Aflac worth $112,536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AFL. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Evergreen Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Navalign LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 12,370 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,881,947.40. This represents a 27.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 50,898,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,940,362,767.90. This trade represents a 0.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 744,916 shares of company stock valued at $87,118,632. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho set a $112.00 target price on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $108.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Friday, July 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.17.

Aflac Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of AFL opened at $127.35 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $96.95 and a 52-week high of $130.22. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $119.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $114.71. The company has a market capitalization of $64.82 billion, a PE ratio of 14.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.61.

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

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.