Audrey Tillman Sells 3,452 Shares of Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) EVP Audrey Tillman sold 3,452 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.10, for a total value of $397,325.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 230,688 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,552,188.80. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Aflac Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of AFL traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $111.76. The company had a trading volume of 2,253,456 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,193,316. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $115.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.83. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $109.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.97.

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

Aflac Increases Dividend

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

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that permits the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AFL. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 188.5% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 1,526.7% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AFL. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Aflac from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Aflac from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $104.00 price objective (up previously from $102.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.00.

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.