Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.31.

Aflac Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $83.21 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.88 billion, a PE ratio of 9.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a current ratio of 0.08. Aflac has a 52-week low of $64.10 and a 52-week high of $86.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $83.14 and a 200 day moving average of $81.89.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Aflac will post 6.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total transaction of $666,720.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,735,635.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total value of $666,720.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 32,825 shares in the company, valued at $2,735,635.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706 over the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. raised its position in shares of Aflac by 80.0% during the 1st quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth $29,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 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.