Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Major Shareholder Sells $1,387,144.00 in Stock

Key Points

• Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 12,100 Aflac shares for $1.39 million at an average price of $114.64 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The sale reduced its ownership by 0.02%, leaving it with approximately 50.5 million shares.
• Aflac shares fell 0.3% to $113.40, while the company reported quarterly revenue of $4.22 billion and EPS of $1.75, slightly below analyst expectations. The insurer pays a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, representing a 2.2% yield.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $116.62; institutional investors own 67.44% of Aflac’s outstanding shares.

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 12,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.64, for a total value of $1,387,144.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 50,481,490 shares in the company, valued at $5,787,198,013.60. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company's stock 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, September 23rd, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,500 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.20, for a total transaction of $1,555,200.00.
• On Monday, September 21st, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 12,200 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.49, for a total value of $1,408,978.00.
• On Friday, September 18th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 12,800 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.22, for a total transaction of $1,487,616.00.
• On Thursday, September 17th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 12,900 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.58, for a total transaction of $1,503,882.00.
• On Wednesday, September 16th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,800 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.49, for a total value of $1,621,362.00.
• On Monday, September 14th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,600 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.74, for a total transaction of $1,587,664.00.
• On Friday, September 11th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 14,000 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.14, for a total transaction of $1,611,960.00.
• On Thursday, September 10th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,300 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.32, for a total value of $1,520,456.00.
• On Tuesday, September 8th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,600 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.44, for a total value of $1,569,984.00.
• On Friday, September 4th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 15,000 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.47, for a total transaction of $1,762,050.00.

Aflac Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of Aflac stock traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $113.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,481,421 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,326,118. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.15, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.59. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $105.43 and a 1-year high of $130.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $119.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $116.58.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.01). Aflac had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 26.91%.The company had revenue of $4.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. Aflac's revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth $4,093,787,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Aflac by 27.8% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,201,217 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $609,843,000 after buying an additional 1,132,091 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake 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 valued at $499,216,000 after acquiring an additional 67,650 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $420,078,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Aflac in the second quarter worth $404,639,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AFL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho set a $116.00 target price on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $138.00 price target (up from $130.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, August 10th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $124.00 target price (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $103.00 price target on the stock. Two investment 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $116.62.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated is an insurance company that provides supplemental health and life insurance products. Its coverage is designed to help policyholders manage expenses that may not be fully covered by major medical insurance, including costs associated with accidents, illness, hospitalization, disability and critical illness.

Through its U.S. operations, Aflac markets policies to individuals, businesses and employees through workplace benefit programs, independent agents and brokers. The company is also a major provider of supplemental insurance in Japan, where it offers products focused primarily on cancer, medical and income-support coverage.

Founded in 1955 in Columbus, Georgia, as American Family Life Assurance Company, the business adopted the name Aflac in 1990.

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