Willis Investment Counsel Has $33.20 Million Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL
by Danessa Lincoln · The Markets DailyWillis Investment Counsel increased its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL – Free Report) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 301,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,954 shares during the period. Aflac accounts for 1.7% of Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Willis Investment Counsel owned 0.06% of Aflac worth $33,202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 188.5% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Aflac by 100.0% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
AFL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Barclays set a $101.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Aflac to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $119.00 price objective (up from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.00.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Aflac
Aflac Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $112.94 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $111.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $119.32.
Aflac (NYSE:AFL – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.45 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The business’s revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.57 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac
In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 21,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.34, for a total transaction of $2,372,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,913,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,728,113,522. This represents a 0.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 296,277 shares of company stock worth $32,430,472 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.
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.