Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 861,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 34,067 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.16% of Aflac worth $88,906,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 2,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Aflac by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,202,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $134,395,000 after acquiring an additional 45,745 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 16.5% in the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 2,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $328,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $335,000. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.3% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 87,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,838,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total transaction of $3,197,456.58. Following the sale, the director now owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. This trade represents a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,733,048.59. The trade was a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $110.87 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $79.31 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $106.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.66.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. Analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.36.

Aflac Company 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.