Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 607,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 52,427 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.10% of Aflac worth $50,147,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 471.4% in the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $84.29 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $48.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.91. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $64.10 and a 1-year high of $86.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.70.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.22). The business had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 24.92% and a return on equity of 17.59%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on AFL shares. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total transaction of $666,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 32,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,735,635.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total transaction of $666,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,825 shares in the company, valued at $2,735,635.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $239,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $445,850.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Aflac

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.