Westpac Banking Corp Sells 1,659 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Westpac Banking Corp lowered its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,659 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Aflac were worth $4,603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Aflac by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,340,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,310,640,000 after purchasing an additional 653,275 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,465,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,286,042,000 after acquiring an additional 288,482 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $349,699,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,226,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,768,000 after purchasing an additional 47,119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its position in Aflac by 81.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,753,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,232,683 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in 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 for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,733,048.59. This trade represents a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total transaction of $3,197,456.58. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. The trade was a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $112.32 on Thursday. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $79.31 and a one year high of $115.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.70, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The business has a fifty day moving average of $106.87 and a 200 day moving average of $107.74.

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

Aflac Company Profile

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.