Teacher Retirement System of Texas Lowers Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lowered its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 84.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 166,767 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Aflac were worth $3,246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,694,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $524,846,000 after purchasing an additional 281,148 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Aflac by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,226,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $333,768,000 after buying an additional 47,119 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in Aflac by 81.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,753,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,181,000 after buying an additional 1,232,683 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD boosted its position in Aflac by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,395,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $247,682,000 after acquiring an additional 118,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,616,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $167,239,000 after acquiring an additional 32,220 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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 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 in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total transaction of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,733,048.59. This trade represents a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,546 shares of company stock valued at $5,863,616. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of AFL opened at $109.56 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $79.31 and a 52-week high of $115.50. The stock has a market cap of $59.88 billion, a PE ratio of 11.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $106.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AFL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 cut their price target on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.36.

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.