Key Points
- Major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 31,600 Aflac shares on May 20 at an average price of $117.66, totaling about $3.72 million. The sale was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, and the holder still owns more than 51.3 million shares.
- Post Holdings has been steadily trimming its Aflac stake with multiple sales in recent weeks, including large transactions on May 19 and May 18. The latest sale reduced its ownership by just 0.06%.
- Aflac remains financially solid and continues paying dividends, with shares recently near their 52-week high and a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share payable June 1. The company also reported earnings that slightly missed EPS expectations but beat revenue estimates.
Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 31,600 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.66, for a total transaction of $3,718,056.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,393,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,046,905,674.70. This trade represents a 0.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company's stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.
Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan also recently made the following trade(s):
- On Tuesday, May 19th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 50,000 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.80, for a total transaction of $5,940,000.00.
- On Monday, May 18th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 41,700 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.45, for a total transaction of $4,939,365.00.
- On Friday, May 15th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 23,500 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.85, for a total transaction of $2,745,975.00.
- On Thursday, May 14th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 24,500 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.42, for a total transaction of $2,852,290.00.
- On Wednesday, May 13th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 24,200 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.36, for a total transaction of $2,791,712.00.
- On Tuesday, May 12th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 24,300 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.97, for a total transaction of $2,818,071.00.
- On Monday, May 11th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 24,100 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.85, for a total transaction of $2,767,885.00.
- On Thursday, April 9th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 86,155 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.24, for a total transaction of $9,756,192.20.
- On Wednesday, April 8th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total transaction of $18,655,080.00.
- On Tuesday, April 7th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 24,200 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.45, for a total transaction of $2,672,890.00.
Aflac Trading Down 0.0%
NYSE AFL opened at $117.78 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $112.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.65. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $119.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $59.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.37, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.62.
Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its 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). Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.66 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Aflac Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac's payout ratio is presently 27.70%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research firms have recently commented on AFL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Evercore raised shares of Aflac from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho set a $104.00 price target on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, May 4th. Two 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, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $111.82.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on Aflac
Institutional Trading of Aflac
Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 13.4% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 1.5% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 0.3% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth about $420,078,000. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 22.6% in the 1st 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 last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Aflac Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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