New York State Teachers Retirement System Has $40.73 Million Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 393,722 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 34,265 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.07% of Aflac worth $40,727,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Spinnaker Trust grew its position in Aflac by 2.7% during the third quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 3,620 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.0% during the third quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 9,783 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,094,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC grew its stake in Aflac by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 6,553 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $662,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 531 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $469,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AFL. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Aflac in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a "market perform" rating and a $111.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $102.86.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL stock traded up $0.27 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $104.53. 1,579,195 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,796,172. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $78.38 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $58.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.30.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. This is an increase from Aflac's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.83%.

Aflac Company 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.