Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Receives $111.36 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $111.3636.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Aflac from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Barclays set a $99.00 price target on Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Aflac from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Friday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.55, for a total value of $268,065.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $720,978.30. This represents a 27.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Miwako Hosoda sold 243 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.50, for a total value of $27,823.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $886,573.50. This trade represents a 3.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 674,615 shares of company stock worth $75,311,551 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BIP Wealth LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 348.3% during the 4th quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 55,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,145,000 after purchasing an additional 43,293 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,731,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $193,407,000 after purchasing an additional 163,791 shares in the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its stake in Aflac by 126.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 21,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,384,000 after purchasing an additional 11,903 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Aflac by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,866,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $206,712,000 after purchasing an additional 97,766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Aflac by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 97,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,841,000 after purchasing an additional 10,423 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Performance

Aflac stock opened at $118.58 on Friday. 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 has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $119.32. The company has a market cap of $60.35 billion, a PE ratio of 13.46, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s 50-day moving average is $111.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $111.37.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Aflac will post 7.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 27.70%.

About Aflac

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.