Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $2.61 Million Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System initiated a new position in Aflac during the first quarter, buying 23,800 shares valued at about $2.61 million.
• Aflac saw continued institutional activity, with hedge funds and other investors making small position increases; institutional ownership now stands at 67.44% of the stock.
• The company reported Q1 EPS of $1.75, missing estimates, while revenue came in at $4.24 billion and rose 27.9% year over year. Aflac also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, implying a 2.0% annual yield.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 23,800 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,611,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $234,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its position in Aflac by 0.5% in 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 during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,702 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $902,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Wealth Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Aflac by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 11,923 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,315,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total value of $18,655,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 51,723,100 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,641,978. This trade represents a 0.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,082,471 shares of company stock worth $124,943,184. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AFL. Wall Street Zen raised Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Barclays set a $99.00 target price on shares of Aflac and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Aflac from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Evercore upgraded shares of Aflac from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $112.27.

Aflac Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of AFL stock opened at $120.04 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $61.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.61. The business's 50 day moving average is $115.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.54. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $120.27.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.09 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.70%.

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.

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