California State Teachers Retirement System Grows Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 11,094.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 86,458,157 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 85,685,796 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.17% of Aflac worth $10,137,219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the second quarter worth approximately $4,093,787,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $420,078,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at $404,639,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at $298,418,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth $244,516,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of AFL stock opened at $115.19 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $57.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.35, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.59. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $105.43 and a 52 week high of $130.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $121.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $116.30.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $4.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 26.91% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. Analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AFL. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $108.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Friday, July 10th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Mizuho set a $116.00 target price on Aflac in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $99.00 target price (up from $98.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 53,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.74, for a total transaction of $6,240,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 51,014,735 shares in the company, valued at $6,006,474,898.90. This trade represents a 0.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 448,715 shares of company stock worth $52,782,886 over the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.