Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Has $6.82 Million Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado decreased its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 79,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,933 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Aflac were worth $6,823,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Aflac by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,190,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $263,254,000 after buying an additional 17,892 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $197,820,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,806,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,140,000 after purchasing an additional 113,226 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,577,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $130,129,000 after purchasing an additional 64,202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,483,726 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,407,000 after purchasing an additional 46,642 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AFL. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. 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. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Aflac from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.46.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE AFL traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $94.77. The company had a trading volume of 680,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,180,004. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $71.97 and a 52 week high of $95.49. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.45, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.95.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.08%.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction of $1,957,403.66. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,381,329.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total value of $1,957,403.66. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,381,329.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total value of $50,904.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at $2,337,342. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.