Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Purchases 5,858 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 64,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,858 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $7,188,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in Aflac in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the third quarter worth $34,000. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Aflac by 41.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the third quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the third quarter worth $51,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.93.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $113.20 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $62.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $110.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.85. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $75.07 and a one year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The company’s revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

About Aflac

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.