Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Major Shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan Sells 19,100 Shares of Stock

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 19,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.77, for a total value of $2,115,707.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 52,222,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,784,675,248. This represents a 0.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

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

• On Thursday, March 5th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 19,300 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.96, for a total transaction of $2,141,528.00.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $110.35 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $111.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.04, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $119.32.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Mizuho set a $107.00 price target on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Barclays set a $101.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $120.00 price target on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.73.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,142,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,301,056,000 after purchasing an additional 6,759,169 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings 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 worth $494,385,000 after buying an additional 69,025 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Aflac by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,167,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $439,545,000 after buying an additional 594,971 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $432,201,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.3% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,926,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $438,621,000 after acquiring an additional 13,666 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.