Intech Investment Management LLC Raises Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 252.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 252,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 180,781 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $26,113,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $3,262,000. Horizon Investments LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 8,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $899,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at $124,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 9,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $953,000 after acquiring an additional 719 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total transaction of $3,197,456.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at $5,360,422.98. This represents a 37.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 55,546 shares of company stock valued at $5,863,616. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AFL. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.36.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $108.47 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $105.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $79.31 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The company has a market cap of $59.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93.

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

About Aflac

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.