New York State Common Retirement Fund Reduces Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 569,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 56,421 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.11% of Aflac worth $63,610,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 11.9% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 93,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,856,000 after acquiring an additional 9,907 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Aflac by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,768,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $196,662,000 after purchasing an additional 65,308 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in Aflac by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 55,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,146,000 after purchasing an additional 13,017 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 3rd quarter worth $1,117,000. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its position in Aflac by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 140,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,857,000 after purchasing an additional 6,400 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, EVP Frederic Jean Guy Simard sold 1,722 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $193,725.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 1,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $153,450. The trade was a 55.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Steven Kent Beaver sold 5,492 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.53, for a total transaction of $601,538.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 38,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,202,447.04. This trade represents a 12.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 31,766 shares of company stock worth $3,549,706. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AFL. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $104.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Aflac from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Barclays set a $101.00 target price on Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Aflac from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $110.64.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $110.45 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $109.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.14. The company has a market cap of $57.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.67. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $96.95 and a 12-month high of $115.83.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $4.41 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 59.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.16 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.29%.

About Aflac

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.