Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Acquired by Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,085 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Aflac were worth $4,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,558,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Aflac by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,693,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $139,676,000 after buying an additional 348,400 shares during the last quarter. G&S Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 65.1% during the fourth quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 31,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,626,000 after acquiring an additional 12,551 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in shares of Aflac by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 376,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,786,000 after acquiring an additional 26,338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 48,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,741,000 after acquiring an additional 5,477 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on AFL. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Raymond James raised their target price on Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.15.

Aflac Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $83.52 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a current ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.78, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.91. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $64.10 and a 1-year high of $86.26. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $82.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.64.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 24.92%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total value of $2,436,695.63. Following the sale, the director now owns 86,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,879,451.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706 in the last quarter. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.