Mizuho Securities USA LLC Sells 7,189 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lessened its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 18.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,189 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $3,654,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Aflac by 41.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.93.

Aflac Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $112.09 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $110.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $75.07 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.96.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.