Geode Capital Management LLC Grows Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,465,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 288,482 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,286,042,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 75.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,533,000 after purchasing an additional 333,083 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $948,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 4.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,202,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $134,395,000 after buying an additional 45,745 shares during the last quarter. Willis Investment Counsel raised its position in Aflac by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 273,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,287,000 after acquiring an additional 3,357 shares during the period. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,014,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of AFL stock opened at $112.44 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $79.31 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $106.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.71.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays reduced 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, 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 transaction of $107,630.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,733,048.59. This represents a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value of $3,197,456.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. This trade represents a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aflac 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.