Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 31,421 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,358,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 31,421 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.24% of Aflac worth $140,554,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in shares of Aflac by 13.3% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 252,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,206,000 after acquiring an additional 29,602 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 4,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $489,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in Aflac by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 7,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $783,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Aflac by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 27.3% in the 3rd quarter. Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. now owns 42,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,762,000 after buying an additional 9,123 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL opened at $103.62 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $57.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $104.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.72. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $77.01 and a 52-week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

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.