Aflac (NYSE:AFL) PT Raised to $90.00

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its price target increased by Evercore ISI from $84.00 to $90.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an underperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Aflac from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Aflac presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $93.36.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $110.59 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac has a 12 month low of $74.89 and a 12 month high of $111.14. The stock has a market cap of $62.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50 day moving average of $104.50 and a 200 day moving average of $92.84.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.58 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac will post 6.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at $1,796,552.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AFL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Aflac by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,807,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $429,319,000 after acquiring an additional 285,576 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. grew its holdings in Aflac by 1.3% in the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,429,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $202,437,000 after purchasing an additional 31,752 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised 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 worth $198,279,000 after acquiring an additional 117,504 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Aflac by 26.6% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,929,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $172,338,000 after buying an additional 405,847 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Aflac by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,806,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $155,140,000 after purchasing an additional 113,226 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

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.