Cannell & Spears LLC Trims Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Cannell & Spears LLC lessened its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 105,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,725 shares during the period. Cannell & Spears LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $11,839,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,731,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $193,407,000 after acquiring an additional 163,791 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Aflac by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,768,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $196,662,000 after acquiring an additional 65,308 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 126.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 21,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,384,000 after purchasing an additional 11,903 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Aflac by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 97,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,841,000 after purchasing an additional 10,423 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Aflac by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 55,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,146,000 after purchasing an additional 13,017 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $108.73 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $119.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The company has a market capitalization of $56.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a fifty day moving average of $111.63 and a 200 day moving average of $110.31.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.12). Aflac had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The business had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.57 earnings per share. Aflac’s revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

More Aflac News

Here are the key news stories impacting Aflac this week:

• Positive Sentiment: New distribution deal: Aflac announced a partnership with Empower Brokerage to distribute supplemental-insurance products, which should broaden channels for sales and support premium growth over time. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings/fundamentals context: Aflac’s Feb. 4 quarter showed an EPS miss and revenue decline year-over-year; consensus remains a “Hold” with an average target around $111. That keeps analysts cautious and caps upside absent clearer improvement in top-line trends.
• Neutral Sentiment: Human-interest coverage: Aflac ran a feature on a policyholder’s cancer journey (brand/PR positive but unlikely to move the stock materially). Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Director insider sale: Director Charles D. Lake II sold 15,590 shares (avg. ~$109.93) on Mar. 11. Insider sales can be read negatively by the market even if motivated by personal reasons; SEC Form 4 filed. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Major shareholder trimming: Post Holdings (Japan) has executed several small block sales (multiple ~17k–19k-share trades across Mar. 5–11). Sales are small relative to its >10% stake but add supply and suggest portfolio rebalancing rather than confidence-boosting buying. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Cybersecurity incident disclosed: Media reports say Aflac confirmed a cybersecurity breach; details remain limited. Potential data, remediation costs, regulatory follow-ups or client impact make this the most direct near‑term operational risk in the headlines. Read More.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 18,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.53, for a total transaction of $1,982,493.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 52,168,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,713,961,040. This trade represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 15,590 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.93, for a total value of $1,713,808.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 62,237 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,841,713.41. This represents a 20.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 115,777 shares of company stock worth $12,787,908. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $119.00 target price (up from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $120.00 price objective on Aflac in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Aflac from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.73.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.