Aflac Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:AFL)

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 32,008 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 1,873% compared to the average daily volume of 1,622 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Aflac from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.00.

Insider Activity

In other Aflac news, EVP Frederic Jean Guy Simard sold 1,722 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $193,725.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 1,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $153,450. This trade represents a 55.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.00, for a total transaction of $114,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 23,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,692,110. The trade was a 4.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AFL. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in Aflac by 188.5% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in Aflac in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the second quarter worth $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 1,526.7% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL stock traded down $0.24 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $112.03. The company had a trading volume of 1,337,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,188,952. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $109.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.97. Aflac has a 12-month low of $96.95 and a 12-month high of $115.83. The company has a market capitalization of $58.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

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

Aflac Increases Dividend

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

Aflac announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.