Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Sells 250 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lessened its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 42,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 250 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Aflac were worth $4,435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership bought a new position in Aflac during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Aflac by 41.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in Aflac during the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AFL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.86.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $105.73 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $104.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market cap of $58.74 billion, a PE ratio of 11.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.99. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $78.62 and a 1 year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. Equities analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 24.17%.

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.