Barclays Begins Coverage on Aflac (NYSE:AFL)

Barclays began coverage on shares of Aflac (NYSE:AFL) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an underweight rating and a $96.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $92.50.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $108.86 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $99.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $89.89. The stock has a market cap of $61.86 billion, a PE ratio of 12.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac has a 12 month low of $73.79 and a 12 month high of $111.14.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. Aflac’s revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.58 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Aflac will post 6.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,796,552.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. raised its position in Aflac by 80.0% during the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Aflac during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in Aflac during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

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.