Insider Selling: Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Director Sells $106,790.00 in Stock

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.79, for a total value of $106,790.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,786,791.84. This trade represents a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $103.97 on Thursday. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.54. The company has a market cap of $56.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $85.77 and a 12-month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.01). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. The business had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AFL shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Aflac from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.21.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,340,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,310,640,000 after acquiring an additional 653,275 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Aflac by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,465,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,286,042,000 after purchasing an additional 288,482 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Aflac by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,296,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $754,700,000 after buying an additional 1,357,753 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,250,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $543,154,000 after buying an additional 556,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,575,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $397,510,000 after buying an additional 349,787 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

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.