Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Price Target to $102.00

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its price target cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $104.00 to $102.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Truist Financial upped their price target 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. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.86.

Aflac Trading Down 2.1 %

Aflac stock opened at $102.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $56.69 billion, a PE ratio of 10.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $104.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.29. Aflac has a 52 week low of $78.62 and a 52 week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. Equities research analysts predict that Aflac will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 24.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Aflac by 75.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,533,000 after purchasing an additional 333,083 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 79.7% during the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,058,000 after buying an additional 12,131 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $979,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $948,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,202,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $134,395,000 after acquiring an additional 45,745 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is 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.