Insider Selling: Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Major Shareholder Sells 24,500 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Aflac major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 24,500 shares on May 14 at an average price of $116.42, bringing in about $2.85 million. The sale was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.
• Post Holdings has been actively trimming its Aflac stake with multiple recent sales in April and May, including several transactions of roughly 20,000 to 24,000 shares and two much larger sales in early April.
• Aflac’s stock was trading near its 52-week high at $117.93, and the company recently reported mixed quarterly results, missing EPS expectations but beating revenue estimates. It also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, yielding about 2.1%.

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 24,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.42, for a total value of $2,852,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 51,539,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,000,268,754.90. This represents a 0.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Major 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 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 value 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 value 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 value 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 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 value of $2,672,890.00.
• On Monday, April 6th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 21,500 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.34, for a total value of $2,372,310.00.
• On Thursday, April 2nd, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 20,100 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.20, for a total value of $2,215,020.00.
• On Wednesday, April 1st, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 19,600 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.85, for a total value of $2,153,060.00.
• On Wednesday, March 25th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 14,200 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.03, for a total transaction of $1,519,826.00.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock traded up $1.12 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $117.93. The stock had a trading volume of 285,376 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,288,993. The firm has a market cap of $60.02 billion, a PE ratio of 13.43, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.62. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $111.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.28. 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 Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $119.32.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $4.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.66 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Aflac from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Aflac from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Evercore raised Aflac from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $111.36.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac by 64.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 5,708 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the second quarter valued at $280,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 11.2% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 150,334 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $15,854,000 after purchasing an additional 15,105 shares during the period. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Aflac by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 11,953 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,261,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

About Aflac

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.