BMO Capital Markets Begins Coverage on Aflac (NYSE:AFL)

Equities researchers at BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Aflac (NYSE:AFL) in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 5.90% from the company’s previous close.

AFL has been the subject of several other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.67.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $104.82 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $58.23 billion, a PE ratio of 15.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $106.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.70. Aflac has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share 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 period last year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Aflac will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the third quarter worth $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Covestor Ltd increased its position in Aflac by 41.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in Aflac during the third quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. 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.