Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $103.36.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,733,048.59. The trade was a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 55,546 shares of company stock worth $5,863,616. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 75.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,533,000 after acquiring an additional 333,083 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the third quarter valued at $979,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $948,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 4.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,202,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $134,395,000 after buying an additional 45,745 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Willis Investment Counsel raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 273,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,287,000 after buying an additional 3,357 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $107.44 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $58.72 billion, a PE ratio of 11.19, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $105.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. Aflac has a twelve month low of $79.31 and a twelve month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. As a group, research analysts expect that Aflac will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.