Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Major Shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan Sells 13,200 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,200 Aflac shares at an average price of $117.35, reducing its stake by 0.03% while retaining 50.75 million shares worth approximately $5.96 billion. The sale was conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.
• Aflac shares recently traded at $116.59, with a market capitalization of $58.45 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.50. The company reported quarterly EPS of $1.75, slightly below estimates, while revenue of $4.22 billion exceeded expectations.
• Aflac declared a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, equivalent to an annualized $2.44 payout and a 2.1% yield. Wall Street’s consensus rating remains Hold, with an average price target of $116.62.

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.35, for a total transaction of $1,549,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 50,752,390 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,955,792,966.50. The trade was a 0.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Major shareholders that own at least 10% 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 Tuesday, August 25th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 12,700 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.49, for a total transaction of $1,479,423.00.
• On Monday, August 24th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,500 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.02, for a total transaction of $1,593,270.00.
• On Friday, August 21st, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 12,900 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.28, for a total value of $1,500,012.00.
• On Thursday, August 20th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,100 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.60, for a total value of $1,527,460.00.
• On Wednesday, August 19th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 12,700 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.05, for a total value of $1,486,535.00.
• On Tuesday, August 18th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 14,200 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.94, for a total value of $1,731,548.00.
• On Monday, August 17th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,900 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.33, for a total value of $1,686,487.00.
• On Friday, August 14th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 14,100 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.43, for a total value of $1,712,163.00.
• On Thursday, August 13th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,000 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.09, for a total value of $1,574,170.00.
• On Monday, June 22nd, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total transaction of $3,249,789.95.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of Aflac stock traded up $0.01 during trading on Friday, reaching $116.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 206,710 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,313,152. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $121.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $116.21. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $104.66 and a fifty-two week high of $130.22. The firm has a market cap of $58.45 billion, a PE ratio of 12.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.11 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 26.91%.The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th 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, August 19th. Aflac's payout ratio is 26.15%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Stephens Inc. AR raised its position in Aflac by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 21,945 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,420,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Compound Planning Inc. grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 13,743 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,508,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 19,088 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,105,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,702 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $902,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company set a $122.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $124.00 price target (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Aflac from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and set a $108.00 price objective (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $116.62.

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.

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