Retirement Systems of Alabama Trims Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 7.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 434,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 33,697 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.08% of Aflac worth $48,608,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Spinnaker Trust increased its stake in Aflac by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 3,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Aflac by 1.0% during the third quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 9,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 17,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,539,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 21,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,945,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 2.5% during the third quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $469,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays started coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Aflac to $107.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. TD Cowen started coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.73.

Aflac Trading Up 0.2 %

AFL stock traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $104.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 215,945 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,199,123. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.97. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $75.07 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $102.62.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.12%.

Aflac 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.