Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Purchases 5,511 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

by · The Markets Daily

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL – Free Report) by 248.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,731 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,511 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $852,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of AFL. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in Aflac by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,731,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $193,407,000 after purchasing an additional 163,791 shares in the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its position in Aflac by 126.1% in the third quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 21,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,384,000 after buying an additional 11,903 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Aflac by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,866,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $206,712,000 after buying an additional 97,766 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 12.0% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 97,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,841,000 after buying an additional 10,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 31.0% during the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 55,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,146,000 after buying an additional 13,017 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of AFL opened at $110.51 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $56.93 billion, a PE ratio of 16.06, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.66. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $119.32. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $111.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.12). Aflac had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The company had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.57 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AFL. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Aflac from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $119.00 price target (up from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.00.

Get Our Latest Research Report on Aflac

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 19,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.85, for a total transaction of $2,153,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 51,954,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,707,245,765. This represents a 0.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 15,590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.93, for a total transaction of $1,713,808.70. Following the transaction, the director owned 62,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,841,713.41. The trade was a 20.03% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 254,677 shares of company stock worth $27,843,142 over the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Aflac

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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