Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Receives $110.67 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $110.6667.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays set a $101.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Aflac from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research report on Monday, December 22nd.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $107.85 on Friday. Aflac has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $115.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $110.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.74. The company has a market cap of $56.52 billion, a PE ratio of 14.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.67.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.72. The business had revenue of $4.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 14.97% and a net margin of 23.55%.Aflac’s revenue was up 59.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.16 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Aflac will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be given a $0.61 dividend. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 18th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.29%.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 15,862 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.00, for a total value of $1,776,544.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 230,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,837,056. The trade was a 6.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 786 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.75, for a total transaction of $89,407.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 24,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,824,298.75. This trade represents a 3.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 31,766 shares of company stock valued at $3,549,706. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,414,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $493,047,000 after buying an additional 310,220 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Aflac by 16.7% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,167,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $439,545,000 after acquiring an additional 594,971 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Aflac during the second quarter valued at about $432,201,000. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Aflac by 0.3% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,926,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $438,621,000 after purchasing an additional 13,666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 2,631,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $297,583,000 after purchasing an additional 261,547 shares in the last quarter. 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.