Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Cuts Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 559,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 27,158 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $57,914,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at $349,699,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at about $163,409,000. Amundi increased its stake in Aflac by 81.1% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,753,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $285,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,232,683 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Aflac by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,340,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,310,640,000 after buying an additional 653,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 670.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 556,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,572,000 after buying an additional 484,378 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on AFL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total transaction of $107,630.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,733,048.59. This trade represents a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total transaction of $3,197,456.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at $5,360,422.98. This trade represents a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $109.71 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $59.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.43, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $79.31 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The company’s 50 day moving average is $106.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

About Aflac

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.