Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Acquires 53,223 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 629.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 53,223 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $6,380,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership purchased a new position in Aflac in the third quarter worth $38,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Aflac in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.29.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. The trade was a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,733,048.59. This trade represents a 3.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aflac Stock Down 8.8 %

NYSE AFL opened at $101.94 on Monday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $79.31 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.64 billion, a PE ratio of 10.62, 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’s 50-day moving average is $106.95 and its 200 day moving average is $107.69.

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