Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $110.5455.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AFL shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Aflac from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $120.00 target price on Aflac in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler set a $125.00 target price on shares of Aflac and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $104.00 price target (up previously from $102.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, EVP Frederic Jean Guy Simard sold 1,722 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $193,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 1,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $153,450. The trade was a 55.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.00, for a total value of $114,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,692,110. This trade represents a 4.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 31,766 shares of company stock valued at $3,549,706. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 188.5% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 1,526.7% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop National Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $109.48 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. Aflac has a 52-week low of $96.95 and a 52-week high of $115.83. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $109.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $106.72. The stock has a market cap of $57.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.66.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. Aflac had a net margin of 23.55% and a return on equity of 14.97%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aflac will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.29%.

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.