Last chance to get in on stock deal. Clock ticks toward first Aflac share split in 17 years

The clock is ticking on the Aflac stock split, with anyone wishing to take advantage of the now-rare opportunity to double the number of shares they own having until the close of the New York Stock Exchange on Friday to do so.

This will mark the first Aflac stock split in 17 years.

“Not only has it been a long time, but it’s not the customary thing to do,” Murray Solomon, registered principal with Raymond James Financial Services in Columbus, said Thursday of stock splits in general. “There have only been several in the past year split. It used to be a very common thing. But in the world of the larger institutional accounts and hedge funds, who don’t care if they pay $1,000 a share, it’s not a driver anymore.”

Friday is the deadline set by the Columbus-based insurer’s board of directors for those already owning shares of its common stock to take part in the stock-split process. Those in possession of shares at that time will next be in line for the two-for-one stock split that includes a 100-percent stock dividend payable on March 16, a Friday. The following Monday, March 19, Aflac common stock owners will have double the number of shares they had just three days earlier.

Aflac stocks have been trading at just under $90 per share — amid overall market volatility — since the company announced the stock split on Feb. 13. If $90 per share were to be the price on March 16, then one $90 share would convert to two $45 shares on March 19. A hundred shares would become 200 and so forth.

“I think Aflac stays in tune with their shareholders and understands that the majority of their shareholders who are individuals like to have the opportunity to buy more shares,” Solomon said. “A split always gives the 100-share-lot kind of buyer an opportunity to get in that may not be possible if the shares are $90 per share.”

Thus, with the New York Stock Exchange closing at 4 p.m. on Friday, that would be the deadline to get in on the stock-split action. Solomon said those interested should contact their personal broker, an authorized broker-dealer or make purchases via online entities such as E-Trade, Fidelity or TD Emeritrade.

At Aflac’s annual meeting of shareholders last May at the Columbus Museum, Aflac Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dan Amos mentioned to those in attendance that he had gotten their message that a stock split was on their minds. He said that shares would have to hold in the range of $75 or higher for at least six months before the board would consider cutting them in half, which occurred as the overall market continued to soar.

This story was originally published March 1, 2018 at 5:38 PM with the headline "Last chance to get in on stock deal. Clock ticks toward first Aflac share split in 17 years."