Key Points
- Aflac major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 30,400 shares on May 21 at an average price of $117.61, totaling about $3.58 million. The sale was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
- The shareholder has been actively trimming its position, including multiple additional Aflac sales in the prior days and weeks. After the latest transaction, it still owned about 51.36 million shares worth roughly $6.04 billion.
- Aflac shares were down about 0.8% and recently traded near their 52-week high, while the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, payable June 1.
Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 30,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.61, for a total value of $3,575,344.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,362,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,040,760,678.45. The trade was a 0.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company's shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.
Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan also recently made the following trade(s):
- On Wednesday, May 20th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 31,600 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.66, for a total value of $3,718,056.00.
- On Tuesday, May 19th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 50,000 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.80, for a total value of $5,940,000.00.
- On Monday, May 18th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 41,700 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was 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 shares were 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 shares were 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 shares were 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 shares were 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 shares were 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 shares were sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total value of $18,655,080.00.
Aflac Trading Down 0.8%
AFL stock opened at $116.89 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $112.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.78. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $119.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11.
Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.66 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Aflac Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be given a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.70%.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aflac
Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AFL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Aflac by 13.4% during 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 period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $420,078,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Aflac by 161.9% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,184,801 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $349,405,000 after buying an additional 1,968,738 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Aflac by 1,184.5% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,264,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $141,199,000 after buying an additional 1,165,676 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Aflac by 390.7% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,111,711 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $122,588,000 after buying an additional 885,141 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AFL shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Evercore upgraded shares of Aflac from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Barclays set a $99.00 target price on Aflac and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $112.27.
View Our Latest Stock Report on AFL
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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