Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 8,016 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,357,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,016 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $143,125,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,307,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $590,161,000 after acquiring an additional 56,776 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Aflac by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,575,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $397,510,000 after purchasing an additional 349,787 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Aflac by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,730,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $192,441,000 after purchasing an additional 13,575 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Aflac by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,703,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $178,056,000 after purchasing an additional 70,244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in Aflac by 26.2% during the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,654,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $174,515,000 after purchasing an additional 343,881 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $107.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The company has a market capitalization of $57.34 billion, a PE ratio of 24.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.86. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $115.43. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $108.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.55.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. On average, research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.61%.

Aflac declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective (up previously from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.45.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $102,570.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 25,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,575,019.85. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.