Masatoshi Koide Sells 13,201 Shares of Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Director Masatoshi Koide sold 13,201 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.01, for a total transaction of $1,557,850.01. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 76,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,018,560.22. The trade was a 14.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of Aflac stock traded down $0.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $116.32. 6,727,380 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,345,028. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $105.43 and a 12 month high of $130.22. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $120.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $116.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $58.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.59.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 26.91% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The business’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $122.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $138.00 price objective (up from $130.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Mizuho set a $116.00 target price on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $108.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Aflac from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.62.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aflac

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Aflac during the second quarter worth about $4,093,787,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac by 27.8% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,201,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $609,843,000 after buying an additional 1,132,091 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Aflac by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,550,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $499,216,000 after buying an additional 67,650 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $420,078,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at $404,639,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated is an insurance company that provides supplemental health and life insurance products. Its coverage is designed to help policyholders manage expenses that may not be fully covered by major medical insurance, including costs associated with accidents, illness, hospitalization, disability and critical illness.

Through its U.S. operations, Aflac markets policies to individuals, businesses and employees through workplace benefit programs, independent agents and brokers. The company is also a major provider of supplemental insurance in Japan, where it offers products focused primarily on cancer, medical and income-support coverage.

Founded in 1955 in Columbus, Georgia, as American Family Life Assurance Company, the business adopted the name Aflac in 1990.