Kentucky Retirement Systems Reduces Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,013 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Aflac were worth $3,480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $197,820,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 7,001.0% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 667,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $596,000 after purchasing an additional 658,303 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,588,000. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in shares of Aflac by 196.5% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 484,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,945,000 after buying an additional 320,867 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Aflac by 6.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,807,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $429,319,000 after buying an additional 285,576 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,796,552.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.50.

Aflac Stock Performance

Aflac stock opened at $107.87 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $61.29 billion, a PE ratio of 11.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $102.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.10. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $74.89 and a 12 month high of $111.14.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.08%.

About Aflac

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.