Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Aflac (NYSE:AFL – Get Rating) in a research note released on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

AFL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, November 18th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $78.00 to $77.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 24th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Monday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, January 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $71.75.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $61.29 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a current ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.33, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $69.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.77. Aflac has a fifty-two week low of $52.07 and a fifty-two week high of $74.01.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $4.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.49 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 21.54% and a return on equity of 13.69%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Aflac will post 5.59 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.98, for a total value of $35,990.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,421,676.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 19,291 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.36, for a total transaction of $1,357,314.76. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 87,598 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,163,395.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 500 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.98, for a total transaction of $35,990.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 19,751 shares in the company, valued at $1,421,676.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aflac

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Aflac by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 728,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,377,000 after acquiring an additional 58,828 shares in the last quarter. Leading Edge Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $280,000. Regal Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Aflac by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 96,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,977,000 after purchasing an additional 3,980 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its position in Aflac by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 26,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Builder Investment Group Inc. ADV purchased a new position in Aflac during the 4th quarter worth $1,547,000. 66.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac Company Profile

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Aflac, Inc is a holding company. engages in the provision of financial protection services. It operates through the followings segments: Aflac Japan and Aflac United States (U.S.). The Aflac Japan segment offers life insurance, death benefits, and cash surrender values. The Aflac U.S. segment sells voluntary supplemental insurance products for people who already have major medical or primary insurance coverage.