Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan Sells 50,000 Shares of Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock

Key Points

• Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 50,000 Aflac shares on May 19 at an average price of $118.80, totaling about $5.94 million, and the trade was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.
• The shareholder has been steadily trimming its Aflac stake with multiple recent sales, including additional transactions on May 18 and throughout April, while still owning more than 51.4 million shares.
• Aflac shares rose 0.6% to $117.97 as the company reported quarterly EPS of $1.75, slightly below estimates, and reiterated a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share.

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.80, for a total transaction of $5,940,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,424,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,109,247,826. This trade represents a 0.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 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 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 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 shares were sold at an average price of $110.45, for a total transaction 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 transaction of $2,372,310.00.

Aflac Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:AFL traded up $0.75 during trading on Thursday, reaching $117.97. 850,091 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,284,120. The stock has a market cap of $60.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $112.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $111.53. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $96.95 and a 52-week high of $119.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.70%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aflac

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 6,759,169 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $420,078,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Aflac by 161.9% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,184,801 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $349,405,000 after acquiring an additional 1,968,738 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Aflac by 1,184.5% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,264,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $141,199,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Aflac by 390.7% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on AFL. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Aflac from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Mizuho set a $104.00 target price on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $111.82.

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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