Nomura Holdings Inc. Raises Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Aflac Incorporated by 72.0%, acquiring an additional 11,857 shares, bringing its total holdings to 28,331 shares valued at approximately $3.15 million.
• Aflac plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.58 per share on September 2nd, representing an annualized yield of 2.2% and a payout ratio of 52.61%.
• The company has authorized a share repurchase plan allowing it to buy back 100 million shares, indicating management's belief that the stock may be undervalued.

Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 72.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,331 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 11,857 shares during the quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc.'s holdings in Aflac were worth $3,150,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 64.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 5,708 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Aflac by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 28,172 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,914,000 after acquiring an additional 818 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Aflac by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 890,901 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $92,156,000 after acquiring an additional 8,629 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BIP Wealth LLC grew its position in Aflac by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 2,893 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 602 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Aflac Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of Aflac stock traded down $1.65 during trading on Friday, reaching $106.90. 2,547,763 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,480,129. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock's fifty day moving average is $103.82 and its 200 day moving average is $105.08. The firm has a market cap of $57.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.85. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. Aflac's revenue for the quarter was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, August 12th that permits the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Barclays set a $98.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.15.

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.