Brokerages Set Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) PT at $104.00

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $104.21.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com cut Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday.

Insider Activity

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,733,048.59. The trade was a 3.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total transaction of $3,197,456.58. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,360,422.98. This represents a 37.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 121.9% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the first quarter valued at $36,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Aflac by 90.8% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $106.27 on Tuesday. Aflac has a twelve month low of $84.30 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.07, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $107.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.71.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Aflac will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac’s payout ratio is 36.25%.

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.