Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock: Insider Joseph Moskowitz Sells 600 Shares

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

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL traded up $0.93 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $127.44. The stock had a trading volume of 1,750,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,671,527. Aflac Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $105.76 and a fifty-two week high of $131.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market cap of $63.03 billion, a PE ratio of 18.58, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $118.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $116.66.

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

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 17th. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 35.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aflac

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Archer Investment Corp acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Groupe la Francaise bought a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Markowski Investments bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $137.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 12th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $101.00 target price (up from $99.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $125.00 target price (up from $124.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price target (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Aflac from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.73.

Recent Aflac Headlines

Investors following AFL have been watching these headlines:

• Positive Sentiment: Aflac raised its quarterly dividend 4.9%, from $0.61 to $0.64 per share. The new annualized payout is $2.56 per share, or about a 2.0% yield. Aflac dividend announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target to $124 and JPMorgan to $121 from $119. The higher targets are modestly constructive, though they remain below the recent share price; Wells Fargo maintained an “equal weight” rating. Wells Fargo target update JPMorgan target update
• Neutral Sentiment: Director Joseph Moskowitz sold 600 shares and major shareholder Post Holdings’ Japan entity sold 13,000 shares. Both transactions were made under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans and were small compared with their remaining holdings.

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.