Russell Investments Group Ltd. Increases Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 486,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,277 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $40,119,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on AFL. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.15.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL stock opened at $84.54 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $48.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $64.10 and a 12-month high of $86.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.22). Aflac had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 24.92%. The business had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total value of $2,436,695.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at $6,879,451.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $239,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,592 shares in the company, valued at $445,850.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total transaction of $2,436,695.63. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,879,451.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706 over the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.