Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Price Target Raised to $104.00

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its target price boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $103.00 to $104.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on AFL. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.07.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock opened at $105.90 on Tuesday. Aflac has a 52-week low of $75.07 and a 52-week high of $115.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $106.48 and its 200 day moving average is $105.12. The company has a market cap of $58.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.95, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The business’s revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aflac

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Aflac by 6.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,807,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $429,319,000 after buying an additional 285,576 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,694,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $524,846,000 after acquiring an additional 281,148 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,429,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $202,437,000 after purchasing an additional 31,752 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,395,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $247,682,000 after purchasing an additional 118,720 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in Aflac by 5.6% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,220,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $198,279,000 after purchasing an additional 117,504 shares in 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.