Aflac Incorporated $AFL Stock Sold by Japan Post Holdings Co. Ltd.

Japan Post Holdings Co. Ltd. cut its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,445,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 453,200 shares during the quarter. Aflac comprises about 100.0% of Japan Post Holdings Co. Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Japan Post Holdings Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.10% of Aflac worth $5,638,775,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Aflac by 2.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Compound Planning Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 13,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,508,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 7,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $784,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $564,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Aflac by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 7,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $897,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $125.00 target price (up from $124.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Aflac from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Aflac from $137.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Aflac from $138.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 113,611 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.53, for a total value of $13,466,311.83. Following the transaction, the insider owned 50,134,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,942,422,016.37. This represents a 0.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 713,062 shares of company stock valued at $83,249,518 in the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $126.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The business has a fifty day moving average of $117.88 and a 200 day moving average of $116.38. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $105.76 and a 1 year high of $131.18.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.63. The business had revenue of $4.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 21.24%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 31.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.49 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 18th will be given a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 18th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.57%.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated is an insurance company that provides supplemental health and life insurance to individuals and businesses. Its products are designed to help customers manage expenses that may not be covered by major medical insurance, including costs associated with accidents, cancer, critical illness and hospital stays. The company operates primarily in the United States and Japan. In the U.S., Aflac offers workplace benefits such as accident, disability, dental, vision and life insurance. In Japan, it provides products including cancer, medical and life insurance.