Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Purchased by Asset Management One Co. Ltd.

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 216,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $22,405,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AFL. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter worth approximately $51,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL opened at $103.46 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $78.38 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $57.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.78, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.09.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. Equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.83%.

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.