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

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $116.1667.

AFL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Aflac from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price objective (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Aflac from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $124.00 target price (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of the business’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 transaction of $7,441,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 51,169,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,044,133,662.20. The trade was a 0.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 744,916 shares of company stock valued at $87,118,632 in the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. DNB Asset Management AS increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 51.3% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 168,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,526,000 after purchasing an additional 56,975 shares during the period. BIP Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 43,293 shares in the last quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,743,000. Dorato Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,865,000. Finally, Atlas Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the first quarter worth approximately $1,802,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE:AFL opened at $128.77 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $65.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.61. Aflac has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $130.22. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $119.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $114.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.66 earnings per share. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Aflac will post 7.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.