New York State Teachers Retirement System Trims Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 393,722 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 34,265 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.07% of Aflac worth $40,727,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AFL. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 252,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,206,000 after acquiring an additional 29,602 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in Aflac by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 50,379 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,632,000 after buying an additional 1,509 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 9,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,094,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its stake in Aflac by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 13,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,500,000 after buying an additional 1,451 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in Aflac by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 55,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,166,000 after buying an additional 1,271 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AFL shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.00.

Aflac Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $103.46 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.02. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $78.38 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $57.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.78, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.99.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.58 dividend. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company 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.