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

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

AFL has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Aflac to $107.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.86.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $103.51 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $57.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.59, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. Aflac has a fifty-two week low of $75.07 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $106.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.64.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. Analysts expect that Aflac will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AFL. Park National Corp OH raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 4,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $516,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic raised its holdings in Aflac by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 16,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,655,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 2,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,253,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Aflac by 825.8% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.