Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Director Masatoshi Koide Sells 13,201 Shares

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Director Masatoshi Koide sold 13,201 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.01, for a total transaction of $1,557,850.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 76,422 shares in the company, valued at $9,018,560.22. This trade represents a 14.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Aflac Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $116.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $58.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50 day moving average of $120.62 and a 200-day moving average of $116.46. Aflac Incorporated has a one year low of $105.43 and a one year high of $130.22.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.01). Aflac had a net margin of 26.91% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The business had revenue of $4.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 26.15%.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,093,787,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $420,078,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Aflac in the second quarter valued at approximately $404,639,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the second quarter valued at approximately $298,418,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the second quarter valued at approximately $244,516,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $108.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings cut Aflac from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $99.00 price objective (up from $98.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Friday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.62.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated is an insurance company that provides supplemental health and life insurance products. Its coverage is designed to help policyholders manage expenses that may not be fully covered by major medical insurance, including costs associated with accidents, illness, hospitalization, disability and critical illness.

Through its U.S. operations, Aflac markets policies to individuals, businesses and employees through workplace benefit programs, independent agents and brokers. The company is also a major provider of supplemental insurance in Japan, where it offers products focused primarily on cancer, medical and income-support coverage.

Founded in 1955 in Columbus, Georgia, as American Family Life Assurance Company, the business adopted the name Aflac in 1990.