Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Major Shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan Sells 53,000 Shares

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 53,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.74, for a total transaction of $6,240,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 51,014,735 shares in the company, valued at $6,006,474,898.90. The trade was a 0.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 Thursday, June 11th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 48,500 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.20, for a total transaction of $5,684,200.00.
• On Wednesday, June 10th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 26,500 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.00, for a total value of $3,100,500.00.
• On Tuesday, June 9th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 12,800 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.43, for a total value of $1,477,504.00.
• On Monday, June 8th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,900 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.05, for a total value of $1,613,095.00.
• On Friday, June 5th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total value of $7,441,560.00.
• On Wednesday, June 3rd, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 16,300 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.19, for a total value of $1,877,597.00.
• On Tuesday, June 2nd, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 9,750 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.39, for a total value of $1,105,552.50.
• On Monday, June 1st, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 9,060 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.53, for a total transaction of $1,019,521.80.
• On Friday, May 29th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 9,200 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.75, for a total transaction of $1,037,300.00.
• On Thursday, May 28th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 9,100 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.22, for a total transaction of $1,030,302.00.

Aflac Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of Aflac stock traded up $0.68 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $117.64. The company had a trading volume of 742,726 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,370,601. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The company’s 50-day moving average is $114.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.04. The company has a market cap of $59.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.61. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $119.81.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 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 company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.66 earnings per share. Aflac’s revenue was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 27.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AFL. Weiss Ratings downgraded Aflac from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Evercore upgraded shares of Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Barclays set a $99.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.27.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its position in Aflac by 0.4% during the 4th 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 during the period. Compound Planning Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.7% during the first 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 last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 4.5% during the fourth 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 lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 19,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,105,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.