Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Acquires New Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 216,277 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $22,372,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AFL. Raymond James decreased their price target on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $104.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total transaction of $3,906,830.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 70,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,496,045.28. The trade was a 34.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total transaction of $107,630.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,733,048.59. The trade was a 3.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,552 shares of company stock valued at $7,609,382 in the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL traded up $0.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $103.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 673,572 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,110,041. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $106.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.26. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $86.46 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The stock has a market cap of $55.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.77, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. Aflac's quarterly revenue was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.66 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be given a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Aflac's payout ratio is currently 36.25%.

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.