Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac (NYSE:AFL) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday morning.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Aflac from an in-line rating to an underperform rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Raymond James raised their target price on Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial upped their price target on Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $82.31.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $84.73 on Friday. Aflac has a 12 month low of $64.10 and a 12 month high of $86.26. The company has a market capitalization of $48.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $83.24 and a 200-day moving average of $81.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Aflac will post 6.43 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. Aflac’s payout ratio is 22.08%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $239,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,592 shares in the company, valued at $445,850.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $239,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $445,850.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 80.0% in the 1st quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Aflac in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by 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.