Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Cuts Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,375 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Aflac were worth $3,082,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at $34,000. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Raelipskie Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at $38,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.36.

Aflac Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE:AFL opened at $108.66 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $79.31 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company has a market cap of $59.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released 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 return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. Analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total transaction of $107,630.00. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total value of $3,197,456.58. Following the transaction, the director now owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. This represents a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 55,546 shares of company stock worth $5,863,616. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by 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.