Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Stock Position Raised by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 18.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,676,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 263,134 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.30% of Aflac worth $173,400,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at $349,699,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at about $163,409,000. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 81.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,753,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $285,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,232,683 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,340,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,310,640,000 after purchasing an additional 653,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 670.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 556,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,572,000 after purchasing an additional 484,378 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,733,048.59. The trade was a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total transaction of $3,197,456.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,360,422.98. This trade represents a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Barclays lowered their target price on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock 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. 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 note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.36.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $109.71 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $79.31 and a one year high of $115.50. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $106.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.66. The stock has a market cap of $59.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.43, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93.

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 net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. Analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

About Aflac

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.