Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Sold by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lessened its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 12.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 79,262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,600 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Aflac were worth $8,854,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,167,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $439,545,000 after buying an additional 594,971 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Aflac in the second quarter worth $432,201,000. Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its holdings in Aflac by 19.4% in the second quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,372,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $250,187,000 after acquiring an additional 385,546 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Aflac by 3.8% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,768,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $196,662,000 after acquiring an additional 65,308 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 26.2% during the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,654,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,515,000 after purchasing an additional 343,881 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.00, for a total value of $114,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 23,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,692,110. The trade was a 4.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Kent Beaver sold 5,492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.53, for a total transaction of $601,538.76. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 38,368 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,447.04. The trade was a 12.52% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 31,766 shares of company stock valued at $3,549,706 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $119.00 target price (up from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $120.00 price target on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Piper Sandler set a $125.00 price target on Aflac and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $110.64.

Aflac Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $107.08 on Monday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $115.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $109.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.02. The company has a market capitalization of $56.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.67.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.72. Aflac had a return on equity of 14.97% and a net margin of 23.55%.The company had revenue of $4.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.16 earnings per share. Aflac’s revenue was up 59.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.29%.

About Aflac

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.