Teacher Retirement System of Texas Has $9.58 Million Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Teacher Retirement System of Texas trimmed its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 10.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 90,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,824 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Aflac were worth $9,582,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of AFL. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter worth $140,746,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the second quarter valued at $60,954,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 133.2% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 758,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,329,000 after buying an additional 433,134 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 10.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,575,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $397,510,000 after buying an additional 349,787 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 26.2% in the second quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,654,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $174,515,000 after buying an additional 343,881 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Down 0.9%

AFL opened at $105.68 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The company’s 50-day moving average is $108.66 and its 200 day moving average is $105.62. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $115.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.96, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Aflac announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors 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 yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have 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 note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.45.

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.