Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Decreases Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund reduced its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 21.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 136,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 37,349 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Aflac were worth $15,024,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 6,759,169 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Aflac by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,483,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $494,385,000 after buying an additional 69,025 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $420,078,000. Amundi boosted its stake in Aflac by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,664,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $293,846,000 after buying an additional 32,907 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Aflac by 36.8% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,125,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $234,340,000 after buying an additional 571,793 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total value of $3,249,789.95. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 50,898,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,940,362,767.90. This represents a 0.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 12,370 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total transaction of $1,441,599.80. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 33,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,881,947.40. The trade was a 27.08% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 744,916 shares of company stock worth $87,118,632 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AFL. Barclays cut their target price on Aflac from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $108.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $124.00 price objective (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.50.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $122.89 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $117.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $62.55 billion, a PE ratio of 13.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.61. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $124.00.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.66 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given 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 2.0%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.70%.

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.