Insider Selling: Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Major Shareholder Sells $1,084,841.00 in Stock

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 10,100 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.41, for a total value of $1,084,841.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 52,078,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,593,762,426. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

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

• On Monday, March 23rd, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 15,000 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.78, for a total value of $1,601,700.00.
• On Friday, March 20th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 16,800 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.47, for a total value of $1,788,696.00.
• On Wednesday, March 18th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 12,200 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.43, for a total value of $1,322,846.00.
• On Tuesday, March 17th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 15,700 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.77, for a total value of $1,723,389.00.
• On Friday, March 13th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 17,400 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.14, for a total value of $1,899,036.00.
• On Thursday, March 12th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 17,900 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.60, for a total value of $1,961,840.00.
• On Wednesday, March 11th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 18,100 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.53, for a total transaction of $1,982,493.00.
• On Tuesday, March 10th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 19,000 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.47, for a total transaction of $2,098,930.00.
• On Monday, March 9th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 17,300 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.62, for a total transaction of $1,896,426.00.
• On Friday, March 6th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 19,100 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.77, for a total transaction of $2,115,707.00.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $107.13 on Thursday. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $119.32. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $111.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.34. The company has a market capitalization of $55.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.45 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 21.24%.The firm’s revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,142,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,301,056,000 after purchasing an additional 6,759,169 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,483,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $494,385,000 after purchasing an additional 69,025 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 16.7% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,167,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $439,545,000 after purchasing an additional 594,971 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at $432,201,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Aflac by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,926,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $438,621,000 after purchasing an additional 13,666 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Aflac from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Mizuho set a $107.00 price target on Aflac in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $119.00 price target (up from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Barclays set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.73.

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.