Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the thirteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $114.0833.

AFL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Aflac from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore raised Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $124.00 price objective (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Aflac from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th.

Aflac Stock Down 0.0%

NYSE AFL traded down $0.01 during trading on Friday, hitting $121.98. 1,193,224 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,392,482. The company has a market capitalization of $62.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.85, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $116.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $113.28. Aflac has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $122.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac will post 7.08 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s payout ratio is currently 27.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total value of $7,441,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 51,169,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,044,133,662.20. This trade represents a 0.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 744,916 shares of company stock valued at $87,118,632. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. DNB Asset Management AS grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 51.3% in the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 168,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,526,000 after buying an additional 56,975 shares in the last quarter. BIP Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 348.3% in the fourth quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 55,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,145,000 after acquiring an additional 43,293 shares during the last quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at $3,743,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Aflac by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,866,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $206,712,000 after acquiring an additional 97,766 shares during the period. Finally, Dorato Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $20,865,000. 67.44% of the stock is 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.