BMO Capital Markets Begins Coverage on Aflac (NYSE:AFL)

Equities researchers at BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Aflac (NYSE:AFL) in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target indicates a potential upside of 5.90% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective 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. Truist Financial lifted their target price 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. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.67.

Aflac Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $104.82 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $106.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.70. The company has a market cap of $58.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.79, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00. Aflac has a 12-month low of $75.07 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Aflac will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the third quarter valued at $38,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 41.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Aflac during the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently 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.