Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Acquires 47,119 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,226,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 47,119 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $333,768,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 471.4% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,080,000 after purchasing an additional 495,000 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Aflac by 670.9% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 556,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,572,000 after purchasing an additional 484,378 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the third quarter worth $42,290,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Aflac by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,533,000 after purchasing an additional 333,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 6.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,694,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $524,846,000 after buying an additional 281,148 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

Aflac stock opened at $108.20 on Thursday. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $79.31 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The company has a market capitalization of $59.14 billion, a PE ratio of 11.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $104.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued 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 return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share 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.