Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. Cuts Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. cut its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 420 shares during the quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 19.4% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $130,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Aflac by 1.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 882,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,808,000 after acquiring an additional 12,357 shares during the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Aflac in the first quarter valued at about $270,000. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 5.9% in the first quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 17,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,464,000 after acquiring an additional 956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 10,946.2% in the first quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 5,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $493,000 after acquiring an additional 5,692 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $112.39 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $110.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.93, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.96. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $75.07 and a one year 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) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.93.

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.