Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $111.8182.

Several research firms have recently commented on AFL. Barclays set a $99.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Aflac from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total transaction of $18,655,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 51,723,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,641,978. This represents a 0.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 814,028 shares of company stock worth $91,815,931 in the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Stephens Inc. AR grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 21,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,420,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Compound Planning Inc. grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 13,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,508,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 19,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,105,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $902,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $117.78 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.62. Aflac has a 1-year low of $96.95 and a 1-year high of $119.81. The company’s fifty day moving average is $112.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $111.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.66 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Aflac will post 7.11 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.70%.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.