Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have issued a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $103.36.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AFL. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $108.10 on Monday. Aflac has a 12 month low of $79.31 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.08 billion, a PE ratio of 11.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.64.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total value of $3,197,456.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at $5,360,422.98. This represents a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total transaction of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,733,048.59. The trade was a 3.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,546 shares of company stock worth $5,863,616 in the last quarter. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides supplemental health and life insurance products. The company operates through Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S. segments. The Aflac Japan segment offers cancer, medical, nursing care, work leave, GIFT, and whole and term life insurance products, as well as WAYS and child endowment plans under saving type insurance products in Japan.