Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Sells 12,000 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd trimmed its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 37.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 20,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,000 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,266,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in Aflac during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $114.10 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $63.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.18, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.96. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $101.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on AFL. Bank of America upped their target price on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Aflac from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. 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 research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Three investment 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 has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.93.

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.