Norges Bank Makes New $349.70 Million Investment in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,380,690 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $349,699,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 0.61% of Aflac as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AFL. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 4.0% in 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 in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the third quarter worth approximately $335,000. Financial Counselors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 15.8% during the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 6,147 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $687,000 after acquiring an additional 838 shares during the period. Vinva Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $930,000. Finally, L.M. Kohn & Company acquired a new position in Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $249,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays cut their price objective on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $104.29.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $111.95. 490,327 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,120,784. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $79.31 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $106.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total value of $3,197,456.58. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at $5,360,422.98. The trade was a 37.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Aflac Company 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.