Nordea Investment Management AB Has $177.06 Million Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Nordea Investment Management AB reduced its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,711,852 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 31,662 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB owned 0.31% of Aflac worth $177,057,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AFL. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its holdings in Aflac by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 2,746 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,116 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,253,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Aflac by 825.8% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 824 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Aflac by 0.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 643,686 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $71,964,000 after buying an additional 3,244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in Aflac during the third quarter valued at approximately $576,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on AFL. Bank of America lifted their target price on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac to $107.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $99.13.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL traded up $0.90 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $102.69. 1,670,482 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,660,795. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $106.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $104.66. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. Aflac's revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. Analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a boost from Aflac's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.94%.

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.