J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Makes New Investment in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 24,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,540,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AFL. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 10.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,391,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $155,529,000 after purchasing an additional 127,911 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 29.3% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,490 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 20,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,279,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at about $594,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in Aflac by 5.5% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 158,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,712,000 after buying an additional 8,274 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AFL. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group raised their price target on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price 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. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.93.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 49,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,360,422.98. This trade represents a 37.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,733,048.59. This represents a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Down 2.3 %

AFL stock opened at $104.99 on Tuesday. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $80.59 and a one year high of $115.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.94, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $106.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.16. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 EPS 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 expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS 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.