VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Acquires Shares of 16,200 Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems purchased 16,200 Aflac shares worth approximately $1.9 million during the second quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of Aflac’s outstanding stock, with several major funds adding or initiating positions.
• Aflac reported quarterly earnings of $1.75 per share, slightly below the $1.76 analyst consensus, while revenue of $4.22 billion exceeded expectations. Revenue declined 1% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, equivalent to a $2.44 annualized dividend and a 2.1% yield. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $116.62.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 16,200 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,899,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AFL. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Aflac by 11,094.0% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 86,458,157 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $10,137,219,000 after acquiring an additional 85,685,796 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Aflac in the second quarter worth about $4,093,787,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 27.8% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,201,217 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $609,843,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132,091 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,550,855 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $499,216,000 after purchasing an additional 67,650 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $420,078,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:AFL opened at $115.28 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $57.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company's 50 day moving average price is $121.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.31. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $105.43 and a 52 week high of $130.22.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $4.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.11 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 26.91%.Aflac's revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Aflac's payout ratio is currently 26.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AFL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $110.00 price target (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $124.00 price objective (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Aflac from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho set a $116.00 target price on Aflac in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $116.62.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.39, for a total transaction of $3,521,700.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 50,955,935 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,981,717,209.65. This trade represents a 0.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 375,815 shares of company stock worth $44,190,500 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated is an insurance company that provides supplemental health and life insurance products. Its coverage is designed to help policyholders manage expenses that may not be fully covered by major medical insurance, including costs associated with accidents, illness, hospitalization, disability and critical illness.

Through its U.S. operations, Aflac markets policies to individuals, businesses and employees through workplace benefit programs, independent agents and brokers. The company is also a major provider of supplemental insurance in Japan, where it offers products focused primarily on cancer, medical and income-support coverage.

Founded in 1955 in Columbus, Georgia, as American Family Life Assurance Company, the business adopted the name Aflac in 1990.

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