Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Director Joseph Moskowitz Sells 786 Shares

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Director Joseph Moskowitz sold 786 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.75, for a total transaction of $89,407.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 24,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,824,298.75. This trade represents a 3.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Aflac Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:AFL traded up $0.92 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $110.32. The stock had a trading volume of 152,711 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,185,665. The company’s 50 day moving average is $109.98 and its 200-day moving average is $106.04. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $96.95 and a 12-month high of $115.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The company has a market cap of $57.82 billion, a PE ratio of 25.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.83.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AFL. NorthRock Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $725,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. boosted its position in Aflac by 0.8% during the third quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 11,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,321,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Courier Capital LLC boosted its position in Aflac by 3.9% during the third quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 2,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Aflac by 5.0% during the second quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 2,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $218,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 5.1% in the third quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 2,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AFL shares. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $104.00 target price (up previously from $102.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Aflac from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.00.

About Aflac

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.