Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Purchases 234,439 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 339.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 303,454 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 234,439 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.05% of Aflac worth $31,389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AFL. Capital Square LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $205,000. Zacks Investment Management increased its holdings in Aflac by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 19,446 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,012,000 after buying an additional 631 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 203.3% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 290,420 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,041,000 after acquiring an additional 194,653 shares during the period. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,276 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $753,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Regal Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 97,214 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $10,056,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at $5,360,422.98. This trade represents a 37.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total transaction of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,733,048.59. This 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $103.93.

Aflac Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of AFL stock traded up $0.70 on Thursday, reaching $109.13. 1,613,620 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,119,794. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $80.59 and a one year high of $115.50. The company has a market cap of $59.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.37, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a 50-day moving average of $106.95 and a 200-day moving average of $107.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. Analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

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.