California State Teachers Retirement System Reduces Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Stake

California State Teachers Retirement System cut its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL – Free Report) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 907,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,098 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.16% of Aflac worth $74,886,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $197,820,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 9.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,643,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $740,141,000 after purchasing an additional 794,784 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Aflac in the third quarter valued at about $47,492,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Aflac by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,208,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,160,465,000 after acquiring an additional 605,210 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac by 8,861.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 449,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at $37,113,000. after acquiring an additional 444,829 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s shares.

Insider trading at Aflac

In related news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total transaction of $666,720.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 32,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,735,635.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total transaction of $666,720.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,735,635.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed via this link. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,381,329.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 35,978 shares of company stock worth $3,098,128. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s shares.

Changes in Analyst Ratings

AFL has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.38, according to MarketBeat.

Read our latest report on the AFL

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL stock traded down $1.11 on Monday, reaching $88.76. 774,642 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,218,206. The company has a 50-day moving average of $84.91 and a 200-day moving average of $82.94. The stock has a market cap of $50.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.08, and a quick ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $66.58 and a 12-month high of $89.91.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL – Get Your Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. In the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.55 per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 EPS for the current year.

Aflac raises dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a dividend of $2.00 on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

Aflac profile

(Free Report)

Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides additional health and life insurance products. The company operates through the Aflac Japan and Aflac USA segments. The Aflac Japan segment offers cancer, medical, health care, vacation, GIFT and whole and term life insurance products, as well as WAYS and child endowment plans under savings insurance products in Japan.