Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 3,524 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky decreased its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,524 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Aflac were worth $3,917,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 25,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.8% during the third quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 5,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $400,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 14.6% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 17.7% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.38.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $87.96 on Tuesday. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $66.58 and a twelve month high of $89.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a 50-day moving average of $85.54 and a 200-day moving average of $83.40. The firm has a market cap of $49.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.96.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,920 shares in the company, valued at $1,516,390.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,390.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total value of $50,904.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,337,342. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,978 shares of company stock worth $2,431,408 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides supplemental health and life insurance products. The company operates through Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S. segments. The Aflac Japan segment offers cancer, medical, nursing care, work leave, GIFT, and whole and term life insurance products, as well as WAYS and child endowment plans under saving type insurance products in Japan.