Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $119.64 and last traded at $119.6270, with a volume of 205381 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $118.67.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Evercore raised shares of Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Barclays set a $99.00 target price on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Aflac from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.36.

Aflac Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $111.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $111.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.49, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.62.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.12 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 27.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.73, for a total value of $68,238.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 25,368 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,885,102.64. This represents a 2.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 23,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.85, for a total transaction of $2,745,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 51,516,345 shares in the company, valued at $6,019,684,913.25. The trade was a 0.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 698,115 shares of company stock worth $78,057,526. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BIP Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Aflac by 348.3% during the fourth quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 55,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,145,000 after purchasing an additional 43,293 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,731,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $193,407,000 after purchasing an additional 163,791 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Aflac by 126.1% in the third quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 21,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,384,000 after acquiring an additional 11,903 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Aflac by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,866,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $206,712,000 after purchasing an additional 97,766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in Aflac by 12.0% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 97,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,841,000 after buying an additional 10,423 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.