Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Major Shareholder Sells $5,684,200.00 in Stock

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 48,500 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.20, for a total value of $5,684,200.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 51,067,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,985,138,542. The trade was a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, June 15th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 28,800 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.17, for a total value of $3,374,496.00.
• On Friday, June 12th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 53,000 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.74, for a total value of $6,240,220.00.
• On Wednesday, June 10th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 26,500 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.00, for a total value of $3,100,500.00.
• On Tuesday, June 9th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 12,800 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.43, for a total value of $1,477,504.00.
• On Monday, June 8th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,900 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.05, for a total value of $1,613,095.00.
• On Friday, June 5th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total value of $7,441,560.00.
• On Wednesday, June 3rd, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 16,300 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.19, for a total value of $1,877,597.00.
• On Tuesday, June 2nd, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 9,750 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.39, for a total value of $1,105,552.50.
• On Monday, June 1st, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 9,060 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.53, for a total value of $1,019,521.80.
• On Friday, May 29th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 9,200 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.75, for a total value of $1,037,300.00.

Aflac Stock Down 0.9%

NYSE:AFL opened at $116.34 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $59.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.61. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $119.81. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.66 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Barclays set a $99.00 target price on Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Evercore upgraded Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.27.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,142,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,301,056,000 after buying an additional 6,759,169 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,550,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $499,216,000 after buying an additional 67,650 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 0.3% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,926,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $438,621,000 after buying an additional 13,666 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth approximately $420,078,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 22.6% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 3,268,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $358,555,000 after buying an additional 603,426 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.