Aflac (NYSE:AFL) EVP Sells $193,725.00 in Stock

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) EVP Frederic Jean Guy Simard sold 1,722 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $193,725.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 1,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $153,450. The trade was a 55.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $114.57 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $109.43 and its 200 day moving average is $105.85. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $115.43. 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 capitalization of $60.05 billion, a PE ratio of 25.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.83.

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

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.29%.

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that permits the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Guardian Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Guardian Capital LP now owns 27,522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,074,000 after acquiring an additional 859 shares in the last quarter. Ironsides Asset Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at $249,000. Integrity Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the third quarter worth $231,000. IFG Advisory LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 3.7% during the third quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 53,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,942,000 after purchasing an additional 1,879 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,414,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $493,047,000 after buying an additional 310,220 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Piper Sandler set a $125.00 price objective on Aflac and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.50.

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.