Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $116.6154.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 target price (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $124.00 target price (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL opened at $116.66 on Monday. Aflac has a 52-week low of $104.66 and a 52-week high of $130.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $58.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $121.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.23.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.35, for a total transaction of $1,549,020.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 50,752,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,955,792,966.50. This trade represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 506,265 shares of company stock worth $59,495,304 over the last quarter. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aflac

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 11,094.0% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 86,458,157 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,137,219,000 after purchasing an additional 85,685,796 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Aflac by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,142,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $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 second quarter valued at $4,093,787,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 27.8% in the second 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 valued at $609,843,000 after buying an additional 1,132,091 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Aflac by 1.5% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

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.