Nordea Investment Management AB Purchases 65,308 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,768,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 65,308 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB owned 0.33% of Aflac worth $196,662,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Aflac by 64.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 5,708 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,626,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its position in Aflac by 21.4% during the second quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 1,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 9,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $995,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other news, EVP Frederic Jean Guy Simard sold 1,722 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $193,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 1,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $153,450. This represents a 55.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven Kent Beaver sold 5,492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.53, for a total value of $601,538.76. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,368 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,447.04. This trade represents a 12.52% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 31,766 shares of company stock worth $3,549,706 in the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $119.00 price objective (up from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Aflac from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $104.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $110.67.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $107.85 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.74. The company has a market cap of $56.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $115.83.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $4.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 14.97% and a net margin of 23.55%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 59.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.16 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.29%.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.