Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Purchases 53,223 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 629.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,680 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 53,223 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $6,380,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 7,643 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $791,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 6,553 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $662,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 531 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. TKG Advisors LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 21,255 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,230,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Aflac by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,960 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $720,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Aflac Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE:AFL traded up $1.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $106.05. The stock had a trading volume of 523,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,147,756. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market cap of $57.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.03, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81. The business's 50 day moving average is $106.34 and its 200 day moving average is $107.44. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $79.31 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $111.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $103.93.

Insider Activity

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,733,048.59. The trade was a 3.79 % 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 hyperlink. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total transaction of $3,197,456.58. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. This represents a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

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.