Aflac Incorporated $AFL is Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.’s Largest Position

Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 17.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 588,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 86,837 shares during the quarter. Aflac comprises approximately 7.7% of Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $64,901,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in Aflac by 188.5% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the second quarter worth $33,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Aflac by 100.0% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Aflac in the third quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 86,155 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.24, for a total transaction of $9,756,192.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 51,636,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,847,367,651.80. This trade represents a 0.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 572,632 shares of company stock worth $63,514,634 in the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore upgraded Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Mizuho set a $102.00 price target on Aflac and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Piper Sandler upgraded Aflac to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Aflac from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.82.

Aflac Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE:AFL opened at $114.51 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $119.32. The company has a market cap of $58.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $111.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.61. 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) last released its 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 return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 21.24%.The business had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac 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.