VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Acquires New Shares in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems acquired 577,978 shares of Aflac Incorporated, valued at approximately $60.95 million, making them a notable new stakeholder in the company.
• Aflac announced a significant stock buyback plan allowing the repurchase of up to 100 million shares, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.58, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 2.2%, with a payout ratio of 52.61% as of the most recent report.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 577,978 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $60,954,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al owned about 0.11% of Aflac as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs bought a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter worth $2,070,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter worth $551,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 121.9% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at about $2,626,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 11.8% during the second quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 32,982 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,478,000 after acquiring an additional 3,484 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $102,570.00. Following the sale, the director owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

Aflac stock opened at $107.82 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $57.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.45, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.86. The stock's 50 day moving average is $108.36 and its 200 day moving average is $105.41. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $115.44.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, August 12th that permits the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is presently 52.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Piper Sandler set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Aflac and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Evercore ISI set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Aflac and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.45.

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.

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