Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Trims Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 11.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 179,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 22,296 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Aflac were worth $18,942,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Davis R M Inc. raised its holdings in Aflac by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 2,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. PFG Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 5,913 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at about $899,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Aflac by 34.9% during the second quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 251,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,539,000 after buying an additional 65,056 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Aflac by 3.7% in the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,001,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $105,623,000 after buying an additional 35,558 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $114.06 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $59.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.83. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $108.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.71. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $115.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%.The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter. Research analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler set a $125.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Aflac from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $110.50.

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.