LONDON, March 4, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

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Investor-Edge.com has issued free post-earnings notes on Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET). On February 03, 2015, the company reported its financial results for Q4 FY14 and full year FY14 (period ended December 31, 2014). Click on http://get.Investor-Edge.com/pdf/?c=Aetna&d=04-Mar-2015&s=AET to read our free earnings review on Aetna Inc. (Aetna). During Q4 FY14 and full-year FY14, the company's total revenue grew 12% Y-o-Y and 23% Y-o-Y, respectively. Operating earnings per share came in at $1.22 for Q4 2014 and $6.70 for FY14. Chairman and CEO of Aetna, Mark T. Bertolini, stated that the company achieved record annual operating revenue and operating earnings in 2014, and delivered full-year operating earnings per share at the high end of its most recent projection. Our free coverage report can be accessed at:

http://get.Investor-Edge.com/pdf/?c=Aetna&d=04-Mar-2015&s=AET

Earnings Overview

During Q4 FY14, Aetna's total revenue was $14.77 billion compared to $13.18 billion in Q4 FY13. The company's Q4 FY14 total revenue outperformed Bloomberg analysts' forecast of $14.50 billion. Furthermore, Aetna's pretax operating margin was 5.5% for Q4 FY14 compared to 6.7% in Q4 FY13. Free research on AET can be downloaded in PDF format at:

http://get.Investor-Edge.com/pdf/?c=Aetna&d=04-Mar-2015&s=AET

For Q4 FY14, Aetna's operating earnings stood at $434.0 million, or $1.22 per diluted share, compared to $537.7 million, or $1.45 per diluted share, in Q4 FY13. Net income attributable to Aetna in the reported quarter was $232.0 million, or $0.65 per diluted share, compared to $368.9 million, or $1.00 per diluted share, in Q4 FY13. Analysts from Bloomberg had expected Q4 FY14 net income attributable to Aetna of $396.8 million, or $1.12 per diluted share.

In Q4 FY14, Aetna's Health Care business reported net income of $373.9 million compared to $402.4 million in Q4 FY13. The company's Group Insurance business net income surged to $23.2 million in Q4 FY14 from $12.9 million in Q4 FY13. Moreover, net income from Aetna's Large Case Pensions business in Q4 FY14 stood at $6.0 million as opposed to $3.7 million in Q4 FY13.

For FY14, Aetna's total revenue increased to $58.00 billion from $47.29 billion in FY13. The company's FY14 total revenue came in slightly above Bloomberg analysts' forecast of $57.76 billion. Aetna reported record operating revenue and operating earnings of $57.92 billion and $2.40 billion, respectively, in FY14 compared to $47.19 billion and $2.24 billion, respectively, in FY13. Additionally, Aetna's FY14 pretax operating margin stood at 7.6% compared to 7.9% in FY13. Sign up and read the free analyst's notes on AET at:

http://get.Investor-Edge.com/pdf/?c=Aetna&d=04-Mar-2015&s=AET

In FY14, net income attributable to Aetna increased to $2.04 billion, or $5.68 per diluted share, from $1.91 billion, or $5.33 per diluted share, in FY13. Analysts from Bloomberg had expected FY14 net income attributable to Aetna of $2.21 billion, or $6.12 diluted per share.

During Q4 FY14, the company repurchased 2.9 million shares for $243 million, aggregating share repurchases to 15.9 million shares and for a total value of $1.2 billion in FY14.

Shawn M. Guertin, Executive Vice President and CFO at Aetna, stated that the company's achievements in 2014 included accelerating synergies from the Coventry acquisition, pricing or solving for nearly $1 billion in new fees and taxes related to health care reform, and closing the meaningful funding gap for 2014 Medicare Advantage rates. He informed that the strong cash generation in 2014 enabled the company to make significant investments to support the growth of its businesses, close two acquisitions and return more than $1.5 billion to shareholders through share repurchases and an increased dividend. The financial position, capital structure and liquidity all continue to be very strong and position Aetna to achieve its 2015 projections and long-term goals, he asserted.

Mr. Bertolini stated that the strong finish to 2014 combined with early momentum in 2015 gave the company confidence to increase its 2015 projection for operating earnings per share to at least $7.00 from its previous projection of at least $6.90. Visit Investor-Edge and access the latest research on AET at:

http://get.Investor-Edge.com/pdf/?c=Aetna&d=04-Mar-2015&s=AET

Stock Performance

On the day of the earnings release, February 03, 2015, Aetna's stock gained 2.13%, finishing the session at $94.18. Since then, the stock has moved both ways with gains outperforming losses. However, on the last close, Tuesday, March 03, 2015, the company's shares finished 0.71% lower at $99.79. The company's shares vacillated between $99.03 and $100.33 during the session. A total of 3.40 million shares were traded which was above their three months average volume of 2.18 million shares. Over the last one month and previous three months, Aetna's shares have gained 5.96% and 11.27%, respectively. Further, the stock has surged 38.10% over the past one year. Shares in the company closed above their 50-day and 200-day moving averages of $93.40 and $84.40, respectively.

Sneak Peek to Corporate Insider Trading

In the last one month, Aetna has reported only one corporate insider transaction to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). On February 10, 2015, Rajan Parmeswar, Chief Accounting Officer, Vice President and Controller at Aetna, disposed 5,300 shares at an average price of $95.60 per share and for a total value of $506,667. Complimentary in-depth research on AET is available at:

http://get.Investor-Edge.com/pdf/?c=Aetna&d=04-Mar-2015&s=AET

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