Kentucky Retirement Systems Acquires 7,898 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Kentucky Retirement Systems raised its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 25.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,481 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,898 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Aflac were worth $4,222,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AFL. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 21,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,420,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Compound Planning Inc. grew its position in Aflac by 0.7% in the first quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 13,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,508,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its position in Aflac by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its stake in Aflac by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 19,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,105,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $902,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 target price (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total value of $3,249,789.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 50,898,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,940,362,767.90. This trade represents a 0.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 12,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total transaction of $1,441,599.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 33,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,881,947.40. This trade represents a 27.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 744,916 shares of company stock valued at $87,118,632 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock opened at $127.35 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $119.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $114.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market cap of $64.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.61. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $130.22.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.66 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.