Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Stake Cut by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 418,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 29,200 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.08% of Aflac worth $43,252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Spinnaker Trust lifted its stake in Aflac by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 3,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $405,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 6,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $662,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Aflac by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Aflac by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $720,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Truist Financial raised their price target on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays cut their price target on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.86.

Aflac Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of AFL stock opened at $104.31 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $57.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.87, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $78.60 and a twelve month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.83%.

Aflac Company 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.