Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $102.67.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th.

Aflac Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:AFL opened at $104.82 on Friday. Aflac has a 12 month low of $75.07 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The firm has a market cap of $58.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company’s 50 day moving average is $105.88 and its 200-day moving average is $105.81.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. Aflac’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Aflac will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Columbus Macro LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 392.6% in the 4th quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 72,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,456,000 after acquiring an additional 57,450 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 3,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $410,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Optas LLC now owns 2,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 4,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $470,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 1,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Aflac

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.