Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Sells 1,573 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund decreased its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 8.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,573 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Atwood & Palmer Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 80.0% during the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on AFL. Citigroup increased their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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 raised their price objective on Aflac from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.46.

Aflac Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Aflac stock traded up $0.70 during trading on Friday, reaching $94.82. 1,146,715 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,827,182. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $71.97 and a 1 year high of $95.49. The firm has a market cap of $53.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $89.81 and its 200 day moving average is $85.21.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 22.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction of $1,957,403.66. Following the sale, the director now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,381,329.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at $2,337,342. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

About Aflac

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.