Miwako Hosoda Sells 243 Shares of Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Director Miwako Hosoda sold 243 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.50, for a total value of $27,823.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,743 shares in the company, valued at $886,573.50. This trade represents a 3.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL traded up $0.15 during trading on Thursday, reaching $113.55. 1,888,128 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,344,198. The company’s 50-day moving average is $111.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.92. The company has a market cap of $58.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $96.95 and a 12-month high of $119.32.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Evercore raised shares of Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.36.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,550,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $499,216,000 after purchasing an additional 67,650 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 10,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Decker Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at about $323,000. SEB Asset Management AB bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at about $11,691,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Aflac by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,461,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $160,319,000 after purchasing an additional 69,000 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Company Profile

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.