Aflac Incorporated (AFL) – What Are Researchers Thinking About This Stock?

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $117.20.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $137.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 12th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $125.00 target price (up from $124.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Wall Street Zen cut Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 target price (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 55,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.79, for a total transaction of $6,478,450.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 50,247,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,918,704,852.60. This represents a 0.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 600,051 shares of company stock valued at $69,857,667. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AFL. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Aflac by 55.0% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $534,000 after acquiring an additional 1,696 shares during the last quarter. Kintegral Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.6% during the third quarter. Kintegral Advisory LLC now owns 40,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,511,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 54.9% in the 3rd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 2,935 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $535,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NFSG Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 43.0% in the 3rd quarter. NFSG Corp now owns 589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of AFL opened at $119.84 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $116.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $117.20. The company has a market capitalization of $60.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.56. 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 has a 1-year low of $105.43 and a 1-year high of $130.22.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 26.15%.

Key Aflac News

Here are the key news stories impacting Aflac this week:

• Positive Sentiment: DOWLING & PARTN raised its Aflac EPS estimates to $7.65 for fiscal 2027 from $7.55 and to $8.25 for fiscal 2028 from $8.05. The revisions suggest improving confidence in Aflac’s future earnings growth and provide a bullish counterpoint to the current-year consensus estimate of $7.04. Aflac analyst earnings estimates
• Positive Sentiment: AM Best affirmed the credit ratings of Aflac and its subsidiaries, supporting investor confidence in the insurer’s financial strength, balance sheet and ability to meet policyholder obligations. AM Best affirms Aflac credit ratings
• Neutral Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target for Aflac to $119 from $116 while maintaining a “neutral” rating. Because the new target is close to recent trading levels and implies limited upside, the revision is modestly supportive but does not represent a strong bullish call. JPMorgan raises Aflac price target
• Negative Sentiment: Japan Post Holdings Co. Ltd. continued selling Aflac shares, including 55,000 shares on October 14 and 42,000 shares on October 13. The sales were made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan and reduced its enormous position only slightly, limiting the fundamental impact. However, the repeated transactions could weigh on sentiment by signaling ongoing shareholder selling pressure. Aflac shareholder SEC filing

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) is an insurance company specializing in supplemental health and life insurance. Through its policies, the company helps individuals and families manage expenses that may not be fully covered by major medical insurance, including deductibles, copayments and other out-of-pocket costs.

Aflac offers products such as accident, cancer, critical illness, hospital indemnity, dental and vision, disability, life and long-term care insurance. Many of its supplemental policies provide cash benefits directly to policyholders, who can generally use the funds according to their individual needs.