Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Sells 1,755 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund reduced its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 10.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,923 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,755 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,668,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Aflac by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Aflac by 116.7% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays began coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.93.

Aflac Stock Performance

Aflac stock opened at $111.32 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $75.07 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The company has a market capitalization of $61.84 billion, a PE ratio of 16.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $110.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac’s payout ratio is 30.12%.

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.