Joseph L. Moskowitz Sells 600 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Stock

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $50,904.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at $2,337,342. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Aflac Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of AFL traded up $0.45 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $85.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 221,588 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,263,744. The company’s 50 day moving average is $83.41 and its 200 day moving average is $82.01. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $64.10 and a 12-month high of $86.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market cap of $48.77 billion, a PE ratio of 9.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.91.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.08%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Flputnam Investment Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 25,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. TKG Advisors LLC grew its position in Aflac by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 24,536 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,107,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc lifted its position in Aflac by 4.7% in the first quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 2,761 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Aflac by 3.7% during the third quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $290,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AFL. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.31.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides supplemental health and life insurance products. The company operates through Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S. segments. The Aflac Japan segment offers cancer, medical, nursing care, work leave, GIFT, and whole and term life insurance products, as well as WAYS and child endowment plans under saving type insurance products in Japan.