Brokerages Set Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) PT at $104.00

Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $104.21.

A number of research firms recently commented on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays lifted their target price on Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,733,048.59. This trade represents a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total transaction of $3,197,456.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at $5,360,422.98. This trade represents a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 121.9% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Aflac by 90.8% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of AFL opened at $106.27 on Tuesday. Aflac has a 52-week low of $84.30 and a 52-week high of $115.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $107.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.71. The company has a market capitalization of $58.00 billion, a PE ratio of 11.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.66 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aflac will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.25%.

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.