Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Aflac has been upgraded from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, indicating a more favorable outlook for the company.
• Multiple analysts have increased their target prices for Aflac, with an average target price of $107.92, while the stock currently trades around $103.48.
• In its most recent quarterly earnings report, Aflac exceeded earnings expectations with $1.78 earnings per share, despite a 19% decline in revenue year-over-year.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays set a $98.00 price target on Aflac and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $108.23.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL traded down $0.52 during trading on Friday, reaching $103.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,347,747 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,151,872. Aflac has a 52-week low of $96.95 and a 52-week high of $115.50. The company's fifty day moving average price is $102.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.89. The company has a market capitalization of $55.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Aflac will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total value of $290,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at $711,149.60. This trade represents a 29.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 40,750 shares of company stock worth $4,300,075. Insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Aflac by 12,313.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,504,067 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $167,237,000 after buying an additional 1,491,951 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Aflac by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,296,014 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $754,700,000 after buying an additional 1,357,753 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at about $140,746,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the second quarter worth about $60,954,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,250,905 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $543,154,000 after purchasing an additional 556,394 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.