On Friday, Aflac Incorporated (NYSE: AFL) had some odd activity in its options trading market. Investors bought put options totaling 9,569 contracts on the company’s equity. This constitutes a 113% increase above the daily average volume of 4,498 put options previously seen.
On November 1, Aflac (NYSE: AFL) disseminated the most current quarterly results report that it had to provide. The company that provides financial services announced earnings per share for the quarter of $1.15, which fell $0.07 short of the consensus estimate of $1.22 from market analysts. The return on equity for Aflac was 12.53%, and the net margin for the company was 24.16%. The revenue for the quarter came in at $4.82 billion, which is significantly more than the forecast of $4.58 billion that was widely circulated. The company had earnings of $1.53 per share during the previous year. The quarterly revenue of the corporation declined by 8.0% year over year. According to the forecasts of market researchers, Aflac will bring in a profit of 5.24 cents per share in 2018.
On Friday, Aflac’s share price increased by $0.57 to reach $72.57 during regular trading hours. The stock was traded on 34,566 shares, with a total volume of 3,038,552 shares traded. The one-year low for Aflac is $52.07, while the one-year high for the company is $72.54. The business has a market capitalization of $45.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.25, a price-to-earnings-to-growth ratio of 2.75, and a beta value of 0.93. The stock price has reached a simple moving average of $63.08 over the past fifty days, and it has reached $59.74 over the past two hundred days. The debt-to-equity ratio comes in at 0.31, the quick ratio comes in at 0.07, and the current ratio comes in at 0.07.
Recent months have seen an uptick in equity research analysts showing an interest in AFL stock. The price objective that Citigroup has set for Aflac shares has increased from $61.00 to $70.00, as stated in a research note that was published on November 16. Raymond James increased their price target on Aflac shares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report published on October 31. A research note published by StockNews.com on October 12 marked the beginning of the website’s coverage of Aflac stock. They recommended that investors “hold on” to the shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Aflac stock from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report published on Thursday, November 17. Finally, in a research note published on November 17, Evercore ISI projected that Aflac’s share prices would reach $66.00 within the next year. Only one of the analysts recommends selling the company, while seven others say it should be held, and three say it should be purchased. According to Bloomberg.com, the stock is presently rated as having a consensus rating of “Hold,” and the average price target is $65.58.
In addition, the company just announced that it would be paying a quarterly dividend beginning on March 1. On February 15, owners of record will be eligible to receive a dividend payment of $0.42 per share. This translates to a dividend payment of $1.68 per year and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The quarterly dividend, which had been $0.40 in the past, was raised. The ex-dividend date for this dividend is February 14. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.41 percent.
Aflac announced on Tuesday, November 8, that its Board of Directors had approved a stock repurchase plan that allows the business to repurchase up to one hundred million shares. The financial services company can now purchase stock on the open market due to the repurchase authorization. Plans to repurchase a firm’s shares are almost always an indicator that the company’s board of directors deems the stock to be trading at a price below its true value.
According to some other Aflac-related news, Aflac Director Toshihiko Fukuzawa sold 1,400 shares of the company’s stock on Wednesday, November 16. At an average price of $70.64, the shares could fetch a total of $98,896.00 upon being sold. Because of the transaction, the director now owns 10,258 shares of the firm, which are worth a total of $724,625.12 in today’s market. The transaction was made public through a filing with the SEC, which may be located here. According to some other Aflac-related news, Aflac Director Toshihiko Fukuzawa sold 1,400 shares of the company’s stock on Wednesday, November 16. At an average price of $70.64, the shares could fetch a total of $98,896.00 upon being sold. Because of the transaction, the director now owns 10,258 shares of the firm, which are worth a total of $724,625.12 in today’s market. The transaction was made public through a filing with the SEC, which may be located here.
Additionally, on Wednesday, November 16, Executive Vice President Eric M. Kirsch sold 28,400 shares of the company’s stock. At an average price of $70.90 per share, the shares could fetch a total of $2,013,560.00 after being sold. After the successful transaction, the executive vice president acquired a total of 35,721 shares of the company’s stock, which have a value of $2,532,618.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found at this location. Over the past three months, corporate insiders have sold 52,500 shares, totaling $3,715,467. Currently, 1.10 percent of the business’s stock is owned by company insiders.
Read More: Aflac Experiences Exceptionally High Option Volume (NYSE:AFL)