Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Hits New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on the stock from $115.00 to $120.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the stock. Aflac traded as high as $124.00 and last traded at $123.2550, with a volume of 1617110 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $121.91.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Aflac from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $124.00 price target (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.50.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total transaction of $3,249,789.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 50,898,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,940,362,767.90. This trade represents a 0.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 12,370 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total value of $1,441,599.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 33,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,881,947.40. This represents a 27.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 744,916 shares of company stock worth $87,118,632 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Groupe la Francaise acquired a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $62.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.99, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $117.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.39.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 27.70%.

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.