Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Purchases 28,190 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 14.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 222,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,190 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Aflac were worth $23,485,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. NorthRock Partners LLC grew its position in Aflac by 1.5% during the first quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $725,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 24.4% during the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 1.5% in the first quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 6,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $711,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 3.5% in the first quarter. Optas LLC now owns 2,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apexium Financial LP lifted its position in Aflac by 3.4% during the first quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 3,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $109.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The firm has a market cap of $58.56 billion, a PE ratio of 24.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $105.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.22.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The firm’s revenue was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $102,570.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at $2,575,019.85. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Evercore ISI restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $106.00 target price (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Barclays set a $98.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.15.

Aflac Profile

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.