California Public Employees Retirement System Decreases Stock Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,246,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 244,917 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.24% of Aflac worth $139,260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the second quarter worth $432,201,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 1,184.5% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,264,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,199,000 after buying an additional 1,165,676 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Aflac by 132.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,227,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $137,078,000 after buying an additional 699,080 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Aflac by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,167,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $439,545,000 after buying an additional 594,971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Aflac by 459.0% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 701,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,969,000 after acquiring an additional 575,915 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Aflac

Here are the key news stories impacting Aflac this week:

• Positive Sentiment: New distribution deal: Aflac announced a partnership with Empower Brokerage to distribute supplemental-insurance products, which should broaden channels for sales and support premium growth over time. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings/fundamentals context: Aflac’s Feb. 4 quarter showed an EPS miss and revenue decline year-over-year; consensus remains a “Hold” with an average target around $111. That keeps analysts cautious and caps upside absent clearer improvement in top-line trends.
• Neutral Sentiment: Human-interest coverage: Aflac ran a feature on a policyholder’s cancer journey (brand/PR positive but unlikely to move the stock materially). Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Director insider sale: Director Charles D. Lake II sold 15,590 shares (avg. ~$109.93) on Mar. 11. Insider sales can be read negatively by the market even if motivated by personal reasons; SEC Form 4 filed. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Major shareholder trimming: Post Holdings (Japan) has executed several small block sales (multiple ~17k–19k-share trades across Mar. 5–11). Sales are small relative to its >10% stake but add supply and suggest portfolio rebalancing rather than confidence-boosting buying. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Cybersecurity incident disclosed: Media reports say Aflac confirmed a cybersecurity breach; details remain limited. Potential data, remediation costs, regulatory follow-ups or client impact make this the most direct near‑term operational risk in the headlines. Read More.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $119.00 price target (up from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Barclays set a $101.00 target price on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Aflac from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.73.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $108.73 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $111.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.33. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $119.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.14 billion, a PE ratio of 15.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.66.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.12). Aflac had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The business had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 19,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.96, for a total value of $2,141,528.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 52,241,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,796,716,840. This trade represents a 0.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Steven Kent Beaver sold 7,387 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.58, for a total value of $839,015.46. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 40,526 shares in the company, valued at $4,602,943.08. This trade represents a 15.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 115,777 shares of company stock worth $12,787,908 in the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac Profile

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.