Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan Sells 15,700 Shares of Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 15,700 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.77, for a total value of $1,723,389.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 52,100,900 shares in the company, valued at $5,719,115,793. This represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own at least 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 Wednesday, March 18th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 12,200 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.43, for a total value of $1,322,846.00.
• On Friday, March 13th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 17,400 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.14, for a total value of $1,899,036.00.
• On Thursday, March 12th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 17,900 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.60, for a total transaction of $1,961,840.00.
• On Wednesday, March 11th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 18,100 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.53, for a total transaction of $1,982,493.00.
• On Tuesday, March 10th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 19,000 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.47, for a total transaction of $2,098,930.00.
• On Monday, March 9th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 17,300 shares of Aflac stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.62, for a total transaction of $1,896,426.00.
• On Friday, March 6th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 19,100 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.77, for a total transaction of $2,115,707.00.
• On Thursday, March 5th, Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 19,300 shares of Aflac stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.96, for a total transaction of $2,141,528.00.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $106.38 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $111.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $110.33. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $119.32. The company has a market capitalization of $54.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.66. 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 (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.45 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 21.24%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.57 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Mizuho set a $107.00 price target on Aflac in a report on Monday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.73.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 13.4% during 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 last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Aflac by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,483,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $494,385,000 after purchasing an additional 69,025 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Aflac by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,167,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $439,545,000 after purchasing an additional 594,971 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $432,201,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake 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 valued at $438,621,000 after buying an additional 13,666 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.