Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Hits New 52-Week High at $86.20

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $86.20 and last traded at $86.06, with a volume of 72587 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $85.62.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Aflac from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut shares of Aflac from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.36.

Aflac Stock Up 0.4 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $49.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.05, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $81.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a current ratio of 0.06.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.22). Aflac had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 24.92%. The firm had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total value of $2,436,695.63. Following the transaction, the director now owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at $6,879,451.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,390.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 18,902 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,559,000 after buying an additional 1,833 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $1,511,000. Napatree Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $676,000. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at $116,000. Finally, Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $168,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Company Profile

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.