Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Reduces Stake in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lowered its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 109,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,868 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Aflac were worth $12,099,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Aflac by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,142,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,301,056,000 after acquiring an additional 6,759,169 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $420,078,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 1,184.5% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,264,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $141,199,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165,676 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Aflac by 132.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,227,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $137,078,000 after acquiring an additional 699,080 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in Aflac by 180.5% in the third quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 252,457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,320,000 after acquiring an additional 565,884 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total transaction of $18,655,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,723,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,641,978. This represents a 0.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 919,536 shares of company stock worth $104,156,673. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE AFL opened at $112.30 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $113.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.76. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $119.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The company has a market cap of $57.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.62.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.66 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Evercore raised Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Mizuho set a $104.00 price target on Aflac in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.27.

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.