Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan Sells 48,500 Shares of Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 48,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.20, for a total transaction of $5,684,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 51,067,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,985,138,542. The trade was a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 sales and purchases with the SEC.

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

• On Friday, June 12th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 53,000 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.74, for a total transaction of $6,240,220.00.
• On Wednesday, June 10th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 26,500 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.00, for a total transaction of $3,100,500.00.
• On Tuesday, June 9th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 12,800 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.43, for a total transaction of $1,477,504.00.
• On Monday, June 8th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,900 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.05, for a total transaction of $1,613,095.00.
• 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 transaction 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 transaction 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 transaction 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 transaction 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.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $117.38 on Wednesday. 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 twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $119.81. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $114.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.09. The firm has a market cap of $59.74 billion, a PE ratio of 13.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.61.

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

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Monday. Mizuho set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.27.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 13.4% during 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 increased its holdings 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 worth $499,216,000 after buying an additional 67,650 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $438,621,000 after buying an additional 13,666 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $420,078,000. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 22.6% during 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

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.