Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Major Shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan Sells 13,900 Shares of Stock

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.05, for a total value of $1,613,095.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,155,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,936,599,836.75. The trade was a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, June 5th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were 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 shares were 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 value of $1,019,521.80.
• On Friday, May 29th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 9,200 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.75, for a total value of $1,037,300.00.
• On Thursday, May 28th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 9,100 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.22, for a total value of $1,030,302.00.
• On Wednesday, May 27th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 11,400 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.50, for a total value of $1,316,700.00.
• On Tuesday, May 26th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 18,000 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.03, for a total value of $2,106,540.00.
• On Friday, May 22nd, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 31,100 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.78, for a total value of $3,662,958.00.
• On Thursday, May 21st, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 30,400 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.61, for a total value of $3,575,344.00.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $117.03 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $114.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $111.91. The company has a market capitalization of $59.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $119.81.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.66 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.70%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aflac

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Aflac by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,142,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,301,056,000 after buying an additional 6,759,169 shares during the last quarter. 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 last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Aflac by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,926,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $438,621,000 after buying an additional 13,666 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth about $420,078,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in Aflac by 22.6% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 3,268,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $358,555,000 after buying an additional 603,426 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on AFL. Weiss Ratings downgraded Aflac from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Mizuho set a $104.00 target price on Aflac in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.27.

About Aflac

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.