Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System lessened its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 158,474 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 839 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Aflac were worth $14,153,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Aflac by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $450,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Aflac by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $424,000 after buying an additional 444 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management increased its holdings in Aflac by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 2,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Lincoln National Corp raised its position in shares of Aflac by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 6,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 13,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,125,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AFL shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $108.86 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $99.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.89. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $73.79 and a 1-year high of $111.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.02, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.95.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.58 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.73 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.08%.

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.