Employees Retirement System of Texas Makes New Investment in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Employees Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 33,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,743,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 64.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after buying an additional 5,708 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $455,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in Aflac in the second quarter worth about $280,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Aflac by 11.2% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 150,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,854,000 after acquiring an additional 15,105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 1.6% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 11,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,261,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 31,100 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.78, for a total transaction of $3,662,958.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 51,331,545 shares in the company, valued at $6,045,829,370.10. The trade was a 0.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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. Also, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 1,740 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.57, for a total transaction of $202,831.80. Following the sale, the director owned 13,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,540,938.83. This represents a 11.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 881,036 shares of company stock valued at $99,703,131 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $114.81 on Thursday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $119.81. The company has a market cap of $58.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $112.93 and a 200-day moving average of $111.79.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.66 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 27.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AFL. UBS Group dropped their price target on Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Mizuho set a $104.00 price objective on Aflac in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.27.

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.