Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Price Target Raised to $120.00

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its price objective increased by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $111.00 to $120.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price suggests a potential downside of 1.54% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on AFL. Weiss Ratings cut Aflac from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Evercore raised shares of Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Aflac from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $114.64.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of Aflac stock traded up $0.44 during trading on Thursday, reaching $121.88. 640,686 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,412,444. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $116.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $113.13. Aflac has a 52-week low of $96.95 and a 52-week high of $122.80. The company has a market capitalization of $62.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Aflac will post 7.08 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total value of $3,249,789.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 50,898,490 shares in the company, valued at $5,940,362,767.90. This trade represents a 0.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 12,370 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total transaction of $1,441,599.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 33,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,881,947.40. This trade represents a 27.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 744,916 shares of company stock valued at $87,118,632 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Groupe la Francaise bought a new position in Aflac in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.