Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Stake Boosted by Asset Management One Co. Ltd.

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 216,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $22,405,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the third quarter valued at $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership bought a new stake in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on AFL shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.00.

Aflac Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:AFL opened at $103.46 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $57.48 billion, a PE ratio of 10.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.99. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $78.38 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $104.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.09.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

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

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.