Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Sold by California State Teachers Retirement System

California State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 4.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 772,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 32,734 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Aflac were worth $84,736,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 18.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,025,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $112,536,000 after purchasing an additional 158,350 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 47.2% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 65,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,164,000 after purchasing an additional 20,939 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 15.8% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 519,634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,009,000 after purchasing an additional 71,074 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Aflac by 1,025.4% during the 1st quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC now owns 25,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,798,000 after purchasing an additional 23,236 shares during the period. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP grew its stake in Aflac by 1,190.0% during the 1st quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP now owns 110,685 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,143,000 after buying an additional 102,105 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total transaction of $7,441,560.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 51,169,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,044,133,662.20. The trade was a 0.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 744,916 shares of company stock worth $87,118,632. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aflac Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of AFL stock opened at $128.77 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $130.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $119.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $114.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.54 billion, a PE ratio of 14.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.61.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.66 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.06 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Aflac from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $108.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $124.00 price objective (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Mizuho set a $112.00 target price on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.17.

Aflac Company 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.