Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey Sells 7,348 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey lowered its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,946 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,348 shares during the quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey’s holdings in Aflac were worth $7,904,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,307,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $590,161,000 after buying an additional 56,776 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Aflac by 10.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,575,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $397,510,000 after acquiring an additional 349,787 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD boosted its position in Aflac by 19.4% in the second quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,372,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $250,187,000 after purchasing an additional 385,546 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in Aflac by 0.8% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,730,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $192,441,000 after purchasing an additional 13,575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Aflac by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,703,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $178,056,000 after purchasing an additional 70,244 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $114.96 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $109.57 and its 200-day moving average is $105.91. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $96.95 and a 12-month high of $115.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $60.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.83.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter. Sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be given a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.29%.

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that permits the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Aflac from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $110.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Frederic Jean Guy Simard sold 1,722 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $193,725.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 1,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $153,450. This represents a 55.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.00, for a total value of $114,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 23,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,692,110. This represents a 4.06% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

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.