Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Director Joseph Moskowitz Sells 600 Shares of Company Stock

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Director Joseph Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.99, for a total transaction of $74,994.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 32,119 shares in the company, valued at $4,014,553.81. This represents a 1.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $127.01 on Thursday. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $105.76 and a twelve month high of $131.18. The firm has a market cap of $62.82 billion, a PE ratio of 18.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The business has a fifty day moving average of $118.10 and a 200-day moving average of $116.48.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.63. Aflac had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 12.82%. The business had revenue of $4.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.49 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 31.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 18th. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 35.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Aflac in the second quarter worth $4,093,787,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 27.8% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,201,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $609,843,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132,091 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,550,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $499,216,000 after buying an additional 67,650 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at $404,639,000. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 22.6% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 3,268,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $358,555,000 after buying an additional 603,426 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on AFL. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $138.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Aflac from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 9th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $112.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $118.73.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated is an insurance company that provides supplemental health and life insurance to individuals and businesses. Its products are designed to help customers manage expenses that may not be covered by major medical insurance, including costs associated with accidents, cancer, critical illness and hospital stays. The company operates primarily in the United States and Japan. In the U.S., Aflac offers workplace benefits such as accident, disability, dental, vision and life insurance. In Japan, it provides products including cancer, medical and life insurance.