Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Lowered to “Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Aflac (NYSE:AFL) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Saturday.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $117.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Aflac from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $99.00 target price (up from $98.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Friday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.58.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $121.38 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $121.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.82. The company has a market capitalization of $60.85 billion, a PE ratio of 13.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac has a 52 week low of $104.66 and a 52 week high of $130.22.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.01). Aflac had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 26.91%.The business had revenue of $4.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Aflac will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total transaction of $3,249,789.95. Following the transaction, the insider owned 50,898,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,940,362,767.90. This trade represents a 0.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.10, for a total transaction of $74,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 32,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,059,311. This represents a 1.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 620,033 shares of company stock valued at $72,650,201. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the first quarter worth $25,000. Groupe la Francaise purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Company Profile

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.