Insider Selling: Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Director Sells $1,957,403.66 in Stock

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction of $1,957,403.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 61,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,381,329.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Aflac Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of AFL stock opened at $87.69 on Friday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $64.10 and a 12-month high of $88.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a 50 day moving average of $84.57 and a 200-day moving average of $82.68. The firm has a market cap of $49.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.68, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.91.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.38.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AFL. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its stake in Aflac by 412.8% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 106,917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,180,000 after buying an additional 86,069 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Aflac by 161.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 311,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,723,000 after purchasing an additional 191,975 shares in the last quarter. Beck Bode LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. Beck Bode LLC now owns 141,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,149,000 after purchasing an additional 12,931 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in Aflac by 87.1% during the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 30,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,600,000 after purchasing an additional 14,098 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter worth about $27,588,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides supplemental health and life insurance products. The company operates through Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S. segments. The Aflac Japan segment offers cancer, medical, nursing care, work leave, GIFT, and whole and term life insurance products, as well as WAYS and child endowment plans under saving type insurance products in Japan.