Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock Price

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its price objective upped by Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would indicate a potential downside of 2.97% from the stock’s previous close.

AFL has been the topic of several other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.36.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL traded up $0.78 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $108.21. The stock had a trading volume of 524,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,819,743. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $104.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.12 billion, a PE ratio of 11.28, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. Aflac has a 52 week low of $78.62 and a 52 week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s 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 approximately $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aflac

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Company Profile

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.