Arizona State Retirement System Has $15.79 Million Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Arizona State Retirement System cut its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 152,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,152 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Aflac were worth $15,788,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 6.4% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,694,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $524,846,000 after buying an additional 281,148 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Aflac by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,226,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $333,768,000 after purchasing an additional 47,119 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its holdings in Aflac by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,395,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $247,682,000 after purchasing an additional 118,720 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Aflac by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,616,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $167,239,000 after purchasing an additional 32,220 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Aflac by 10.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,391,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $155,529,000 after purchasing an additional 127,911 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Stock Up 0.6 %

AFL opened at $108.20 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The company’s 50-day moving average is $104.89 and its 200 day moving average is $107.67. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $79.31 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.27, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. Research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AFL shares. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.36.

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.