Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Boosts Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 12.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 75,526 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 8,091 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Aflac were worth $8,293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $349,699,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth about $163,409,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Aflac by 12,313.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,504,067 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $167,237,000 after buying an additional 1,491,951 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,296,014 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $754,700,000 after buying an additional 1,357,753 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its position in shares of Aflac by 81.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,753,513 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $285,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,232,683 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE:AFL traded up $1.05 on Friday, hitting $104.57. The stock had a trading volume of 994,901 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,150,489. The company has a quick ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $88.00 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The business's fifty day moving average is $104.32 and its 200 day moving average is $105.21. The company has a market cap of $56.54 billion, a PE ratio of 16.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.01). Aflac had a net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 15.55%. The business had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.66 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st were issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on AFL. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $106.50.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total transaction of $3,906,830.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 70,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,496,045.28. The trade was a 34.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total value of $290,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $711,149.60. This trade represents a 29.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 40,750 shares of company stock valued at $4,304,295. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.