Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Now Covered by Barclays

Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Aflac (NYSE:AFL) in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued an underweight rating and a $96.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on AFL. Citigroup increased their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial increased their price target on Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Aflac from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $92.50.

Aflac Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of AFL opened at $108.86 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a current ratio of 0.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $99.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $89.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.02, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.95. Aflac has a one year low of $73.79 and a one year high of $111.14.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.58 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Aflac will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.08%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Aflac during the second quarter worth $3,099,000. Centennial Bank AR grew its stake in Aflac by 28.7% in the 2nd quarter. Centennial Bank AR now owns 875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at $366,000. Heartland Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at $290,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 26.6% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,929,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $172,338,000 after purchasing an additional 405,847 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

About Aflac

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.