Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 21.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 136,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 37,349 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Aflac were worth $15,024,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Navalign LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Mizuho set a $112.00 target price on Aflac in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $124.00 target price (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $114.50.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $122.89 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $124.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $117.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $113.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $62.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.61.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. Aflac’s revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.66 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total value of $7,441,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 51,169,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,044,133,662.20. This trade represents a 0.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 744,916 shares of company stock valued at $87,118,632. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Company 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.