Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Lowers Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund reduced its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 174,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,478 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Aflac were worth $19,219,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AFL. Navalign LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the second quarter worth $33,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 95.6% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Park Square Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 80.6% during the fourth quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC now owns 354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.05, for a total value of $1,613,095.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 51,155,535 shares in the company, valued at $5,936,599,836.75. This trade represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 914,456 shares of company stock valued at $104,340,566 in the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aflac Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $117.03 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $59.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.28, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $96.95 and a 12-month high of $119.81. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.91.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Mizuho set a $104.00 price target on Aflac in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Evercore upgraded Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.27.

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.