Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Hits New 12-Month High at $86.20

Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $86.20 and last traded at $86.06, with a volume of 72587 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.62.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. StockNews.com lowered Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 1st. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Aflac from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $76.00 to $78.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Aflac from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.36.

Aflac Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $81.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.74. The stock has a market cap of $49.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.91.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.47 by ($0.22). Aflac had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 24.92%. The business had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total value of $2,436,695.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,879,451.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total transaction of $2,436,695.63. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,879,451.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aflac

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Aflac by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,208,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,160,465,000 after acquiring an additional 605,210 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,645,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,929,682,000 after buying an additional 366,344 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in Aflac by 0.7% during the second quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 16,415,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,145,794,000 after buying an additional 107,554 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 0.9% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,888,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $765,297,000 after buying an additional 105,298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its position in Aflac by 9.0% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,643,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $740,141,000 after acquiring an additional 794,784 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.