Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 64,290 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,858 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.'s holdings in Aflac were worth $7,188,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 7,001.0% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 667,706 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $596,000 after buying an additional 658,303 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 10,878.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 559,903 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $62,597,000 after purchasing an additional 554,803 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in Aflac by 26.6% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,929,662 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $172,338,000 after buying an additional 405,847 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth about $27,588,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Aflac by 6.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,807,079 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $429,319,000 after purchasing an additional 285,576 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock traded up $0.81 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $114.01. The company had a trading volume of 1,238,606 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,217,338. The company has a market capitalization of $63.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.96. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $75.07 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $110.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.85. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Barclays initiated coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $96.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $97.93.

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.