Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Receives $98.73 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the fifteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $98.73.

Several analysts recently weighed in on AFL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Aflac to $107.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st.

Aflac Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $103.16 on Wednesday. Aflac has a 12-month low of $75.07 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The company has a market cap of $57.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $107.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.16.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Aflac will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 34.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aflac

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 7,001.0% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 667,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $596,000 after purchasing an additional 658,303 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Aflac by 10,878.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 559,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,597,000 after purchasing an additional 554,803 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its position in Aflac by 471.4% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $67,080,000 after buying an additional 495,000 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in Aflac by 26.6% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,929,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $172,338,000 after acquiring an additional 405,847 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,290,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.