Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Increases Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 5.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 228,301 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 11,577 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Aflac were worth $25,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth about $349,699,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth about $163,409,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 12,313.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,504,067 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $167,237,000 after acquiring an additional 1,491,951 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Aflac by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,296,014 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $754,700,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357,753 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased 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 in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total transaction of $3,906,830.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 70,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,496,045.28. This represents a 34.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total transaction of $290,675.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at $711,149.60. This represents a 29.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 40,750 shares of company stock valued at $4,304,295. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. 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 research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $104.93.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock traded up $1.52 during trading on Thursday, reaching $104.00. 2,149,037 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,115,622. The company has a market capitalization of $56.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.25, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm's 50-day moving average is $104.67 and its 200 day moving average is $105.20. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $88.00 and a 1 year high of $115.50.

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

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st were issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.25%.

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.