Mizuho Markets Americas LLC Buys 14,100 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Mizuho Markets Americas LLC boosted its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 32.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 58,166 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 14,100 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $4,799,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Aflac by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,208,007 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,160,465,000 after purchasing an additional 605,210 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Aflac by 9.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,643,531 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $740,141,000 after purchasing an additional 794,784 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Aflac by 5.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,295,810 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $559,953,000 after acquiring an additional 368,704 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Aflac by 5.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,808,289 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $369,036,000 after purchasing an additional 227,516 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,190,954 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $263,254,000 after purchasing an additional 17,892 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total value of $666,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 32,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,735,635.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $50,904.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,337,342. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total value of $666,720.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 32,825 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,735,635.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 16,600 shares of company stock worth $1,379,914. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $82.38.

Aflac Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of AFL stock traded up $1.23 on Friday, hitting $88.37. 2,300,175 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,306,028. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $84.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.21 billion, a PE ratio of 9.75, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.91. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $64.10 and a twelve month high of $88.41.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. Aflac's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. This is a positive change from Aflac's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.08%.

Aflac Company 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.

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