Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Price Target Raised to $107.00

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its target price boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $106.00 to $107.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. 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. Barclays started coverage on Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.93.

Aflac Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $107.44 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.69 billion, a PE ratio of 16.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.96. Aflac has a 52-week low of $75.07 and a 52-week high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a current ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Aflac will post 7.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac’s payout ratio is 30.12%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aflac

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BIP Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the third quarter valued at approximately $256,000. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its holdings in Aflac by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 75,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,440,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC bought a new stake in Aflac in the third quarter worth $323,000. Caprock Group LLC increased its position in Aflac by 1.8% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 20,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,330,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baron Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. 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.