Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Purchases 5,242 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 177,078 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,242 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Aflac were worth $18,317,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Spinnaker Trust lifted its position in Aflac by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 3,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC lifted its position in Aflac by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 6,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $662,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Aflac by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. TKG Advisors LLC lifted its position in Aflac by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 21,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,230,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Aflac by 41.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $104.08 on Tuesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $78.62 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The stock has a market cap of $57.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.84, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $104.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.43.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. As a group, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s payout ratio is 24.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.86.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Profile

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.