Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,902 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $7,054,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 40.6% during the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 50,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,246,000 after buying an additional 14,641 shares in the last quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 2,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $276,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 77,485.7% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 10,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,124,000 after acquiring an additional 10,848 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 38,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,963,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of AFL stock opened at $106.35 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $105.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.73. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $79.31 and a 12-month high of $115.50. 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 firm has a market cap of $58.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its 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 return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. Equities analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on AFL. Piper Sandler cut 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays cut their price target 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, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.36.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,733,048.59. This trade represents a 3.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. The trade was a 37.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 55,546 shares of company stock worth $5,863,616. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.