Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Trims Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lowered its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 498,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 30,108 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.09% of Aflac worth $41,102,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Flputnam Investment Management Co. lifted its stake in Aflac by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 25,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 3.7% in the third quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Legacy Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.8% in the third quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 5,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 14.6% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL stock traded up $0.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $87.69. The stock had a trading volume of 1,311,085 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,043,957. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $64.10 and a 12-month high of $88.59. The company has a market cap of $49.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.08%.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction of $1,957,403.66. Following the sale, the director now owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,381,329.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total value of $50,904.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,337,342. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total value of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares in the company, valued at $5,381,329.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,978 shares of company stock valued at $3,098,128 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.38.

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.