Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS decreased its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 106,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,411 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Aflac were worth $10,997,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,611,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in Aflac by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 337,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,956,000 after acquiring an additional 3,981 shares during the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $132,000. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $323,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 80,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,287,000 after buying an additional 2,468 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $108.10 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $59.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $105.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.64. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $79.31 and a 1 year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total transaction of $3,197,456.58. Following the sale, the director now owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. The trade was a 37.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,546 shares of company stock valued at $5,863,616 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.36.

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.