Joseph Moskowitz Sells 786 Shares of Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Director Joseph Moskowitz sold 786 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.75, for a total transaction of $89,407.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 24,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,824,298.75. This trade represents a 3.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $110.61 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The company has a market cap of $57.97 billion, a PE ratio of 25.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.83. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $115.83.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. Aflac’s payout ratio is 30.29%.

Aflac announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. NorthRock Partners LLC grew its stake in Aflac by 1.5% during the first quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $725,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 11,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,321,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Courier Capital LLC boosted its position in Aflac by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 2,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Aflac by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 2,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 2,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Aflac from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler set a $125.00 target price on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.00.

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.