State of Michigan Retirement System Has $14.13 Million Position in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• State of Michigan Retirement System reduced its Aflac stake by 7.2%, selling 9,900 shares and now holds 128,107 shares valued at approximately $14.13 million.
• Major shareholder Post Holdings sold 86,155 Aflac shares for about $9.76 million, and insiders have offloaded 572,632 shares (≈$63.5 million) in the past three months, leaving insiders with roughly 0.80% ownership.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: the consensus rating is a Hold with a $111.82 target, while Aflac trades near $114.68 and has a market cap of about $59.1 billion and a P/E of 16.67.

State of Michigan Retirement System lessened its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 128,107 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 9,900 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System's holdings in Aflac were worth $14,126,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Courier Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 3.9% in the third quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 2,597 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 2,939 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 3,169 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $354,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, Berkeley Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,669 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,303,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $119.00 price target (up from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Barclays set a $101.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Piper Sandler raised Aflac to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Aflac from $118.00 to $116.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $111.82.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $114.68 on Tuesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $119.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $111.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.74. The firm has a market cap of $59.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.66.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.12). Aflac had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The business had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.57 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 86,155 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.24, for a total value of $9,756,192.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 51,636,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,847,367,651.80. The trade was a 0.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 572,632 shares of company stock valued at $63,514,634 in the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aflac 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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