Charles Lake II Sells 15,590 Shares of Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Director Charles Lake II sold 15,590 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.93, for a total transaction of $1,713,808.70. Following the sale, the director directly owned 62,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,841,713.41. This represents a 20.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Aflac Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $108.73 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $111.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.31. 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 Incorporated has a 52-week low of $96.95 and a 52-week high of $119.32. The company has a market capitalization of $56.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.66.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.12). Aflac had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 21.24%.The firm had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.57 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $120.00 price objective on Aflac in a research report on Monday, December 15th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $119.00 target price (up from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Barclays set a $101.00 price target on Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.73.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 13.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 6,759,169 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Aflac by 1.6% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Aflac by 16.7% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $432,201,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased 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 worth $438,621,000 after purchasing an additional 13,666 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Aflac News

Here are the key news stories impacting Aflac this week:

• Positive Sentiment: New distribution deal: Aflac announced a partnership with Empower Brokerage to distribute supplemental-insurance products, which should broaden channels for sales and support premium growth over time. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings/fundamentals context: Aflac’s Feb. 4 quarter showed an EPS miss and revenue decline year-over-year; consensus remains a “Hold” with an average target around $111. That keeps analysts cautious and caps upside absent clearer improvement in top-line trends.
• Neutral Sentiment: Human-interest coverage: Aflac ran a feature on a policyholder’s cancer journey (brand/PR positive but unlikely to move the stock materially). Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Director insider sale: Director Charles D. Lake II sold 15,590 shares (avg. ~$109.93) on Mar. 11. Insider sales can be read negatively by the market even if motivated by personal reasons; SEC Form 4 filed. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Major shareholder trimming: Post Holdings (Japan) has executed several small block sales (multiple ~17k–19k-share trades across Mar. 5–11). Sales are small relative to its >10% stake but add supply and suggest portfolio rebalancing rather than confidence-boosting buying. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Cybersecurity incident disclosed: Media reports say Aflac confirmed a cybersecurity breach; details remain limited. Potential data, remediation costs, regulatory follow-ups or client impact make this the most direct near‑term operational risk in the headlines. Read More.

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.