Nuveen Asset Management LLC Acquires 26,131 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,366,432 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 26,131 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.25% of Aflac worth $141,344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Aflac by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,340,298 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,310,640,000 after buying an additional 653,275 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Aflac by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,465,433 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,286,042,000 after buying an additional 288,482 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Aflac by 22.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $349,699,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,226,681 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $333,768,000 after purchasing an additional 47,119 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL stock traded down $0.91 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $105.52. 1,868,335 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,110,680. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $86.46 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market cap of $57.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $107.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.49.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. Aflac's quarterly revenue was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.66 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Aflac's payout ratio is 36.25%.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,728 shares in the company, valued at $711,149.60. The trade was a 29.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,733,048.59. This trade represents a 3.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 34,552 shares of company stock valued at $3,702,552. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AFL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $111.00 price target for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $104.57.

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.