Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $116.6154.

Several analysts recently weighed in on AFL shares. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $103.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen cut Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st.

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 dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total transaction of $7,441,560.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 51,169,435 shares in the company, valued at $6,044,133,662.20. This represents a 0.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 497,625 shares of company stock valued at $58,356,483. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Aflac by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,142,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,301,056,000 after buying an additional 6,759,169 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,093,787,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 27.8% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,201,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $609,843,000 after buying an additional 1,132,091 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Aflac by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,550,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $499,216,000 after buying an additional 67,650 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $420,078,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Aflac

Here are the key news stories impacting Aflac this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Aflac’s quarterly dividend is $0.61 per share, or $2.44 annualized, providing a yield of roughly 2.1%. The company has a long record of dividend growth and a relatively low payout ratio of about 26%, supporting its appeal as a defensive income stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent earnings were mixed: quarterly revenue of $4.22 billion exceeded analyst expectations of $4.11 billion, but earnings per share of $1.75 narrowly missed the $1.76 consensus. Revenue declined 1% year over year and EPS fell from $1.78 in the prior-year quarter, limiting fundamental momentum.
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street’s overall view remains cautious, with a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target near $116.62. Some analysts remain constructive, including Piper Sandler with a $138 target, while others maintain neutral or underweight ratings.
• Negative Sentiment: Wolfe Research initiated coverage with an “underperform” rating and a $103 price target, implying meaningful downside from recent trading levels. The call adds to existing concerns from Barclays and JPMorgan, which also have cautious ratings or targets. Wolfe Research Starts Aflac at Underperform
• Negative Sentiment: Japan Post Holdings, Aflac’s major shareholder, sold another 12,700 shares on August 19 for approximately $1.49 million, following sales of 14,200 shares on August 18 and 13,900 shares on August 17. The transactions were conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan and represent only a small reduction in its stake, but the repeated selling may weigh on investor sentiment. Aflac SEC Insider Filing

Aflac Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of AFL stock opened at $116.12 on Monday. Aflac has a 1-year low of $104.66 and a 1-year high of $130.22. The firm has a market cap of $58.22 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a 50-day moving average of $121.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $116.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.01). Aflac had a net margin of 26.91% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The company had revenue of $4.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. Aflac’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Aflac will post 7.04 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.15%.

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.