Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Sells 17,290 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd decreased its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 34.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 17,290 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,882,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth approximately $197,820,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 7,001.0% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 667,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $596,000 after purchasing an additional 658,303 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at $27,588,000. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in Aflac by 196.5% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 484,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,945,000 after purchasing an additional 320,867 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 161.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 311,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,723,000 after buying an additional 191,975 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL stock opened at $108.59 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.99, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $101.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $74.89 and a 12-month high of $111.14.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The firm had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.58 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 22.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Bank of America increased their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.50.

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.