Arizona State Retirement System Sells 6,654 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Arizona State Retirement System lessened its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 143,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,654 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Aflac were worth $15,809,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BIP Wealth LLC increased its position in Aflac by 348.3% during the 4th quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 55,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,145,000 after buying an additional 43,293 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in Aflac by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,731,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $193,407,000 after buying an additional 163,791 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its position in Aflac by 126.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 21,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,384,000 after buying an additional 11,903 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Aflac by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,866,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $206,712,000 after buying an additional 97,766 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in Aflac by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 97,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,841,000 after buying an additional 10,423 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total transaction of $18,655,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,723,100 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,641,978. This trade represents a 0.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 572,632 shares of company stock worth $63,514,634 in the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $114.71 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $111.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.74. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $119.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.12). Aflac had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The firm had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho set a $102.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Aflac from $118.00 to $116.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Aflac from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Evercore upgraded Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.82.

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.