State of Michigan Retirement System Sells 2,600 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

State of Michigan Retirement System reduced its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 1.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 140,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,600 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Aflac were worth $14,776,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. NorthRock Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $725,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 2,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $218,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 3,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apexium Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 3,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $107.19 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $57.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $115.43. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $108.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.59.

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

Aflac declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac’s payout ratio is 52.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AFL. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $102.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.90.

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.