Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Price Target Raised to $94.00

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its target price upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $90.00 to $94.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America boosted their price target on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com lowered Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Aflac to $107.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.86.

Aflac Stock Up 0.7 %

AFL stock opened at $103.51 on Tuesday. Aflac has a 1-year low of $75.07 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $106.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.50 billion, a PE ratio of 15.59, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Aflac will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.94%.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,533,000 after purchasing an additional 333,083 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 79.7% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,058,000 after purchasing an additional 12,131 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Aflac in the third quarter valued at approximately $979,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 4.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,202,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $134,395,000 after buying an additional 45,745 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the third quarter worth $250,000. 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.