Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan Sells 24,300 Shares of Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 24,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.97, for a total transaction of $2,818,071.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 51,588,545 shares in the company, valued at $5,982,723,563.65. The trade was a 0.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

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

• On Monday, May 11th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 24,100 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.85, for a total value of $2,767,885.00.
• On Thursday, April 9th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 86,155 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.24, for a total transaction of $9,756,192.20.
• On Wednesday, April 8th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total value of $18,655,080.00.
• On Tuesday, April 7th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 24,200 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.45, for a total value of $2,672,890.00.
• On Monday, April 6th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 21,500 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.34, for a total value of $2,372,310.00.
• On Thursday, April 2nd, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 20,100 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.20, for a total transaction of $2,215,020.00.
• On Wednesday, April 1st, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 19,600 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.85, for a total value of $2,153,060.00.
• On Wednesday, March 25th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 14,200 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.03, for a total value of $1,519,826.00.
• On Monday, March 23rd, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 15,000 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.78, for a total transaction 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.

Aflac Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE AFL traded up $0.98 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $116.46. 308,241 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,299,049. The company’s fifty day moving average is $111.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $111.15. 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 $119.32. The stock has a market cap of $59.28 billion, a PE ratio of 13.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.62.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results 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). Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Evergreen Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Navalign LLC bought a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays set a $99.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Evercore upgraded Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings lowered Aflac from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.36.

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.