Brokerages Set Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) PT at $103.36

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fourteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $103.36.

Several analysts have issued reports on AFL shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $108.10 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $59.08 billion, a PE ratio of 11.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. Aflac has a one year low of $79.31 and a one year high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $105.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.64.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total transaction of $3,197,456.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. This represents a 37.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,546 shares of company stock worth $5,863,616 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,340,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,310,640,000 after acquiring an additional 653,275 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,465,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,286,042,000 after acquiring an additional 288,482 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,296,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $754,700,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357,753 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,250,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $543,154,000 after acquiring an additional 556,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth approximately $349,699,000. 67.44% of the stock is 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.