Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its target price boosted by analysts at Barclays from $96.00 to $98.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “underweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price target would indicate a potential downside of 4.57% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Aflac to $107.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Four equities research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.13.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $102.69 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market cap of $57.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.47, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. Aflac has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $106.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $104.66.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Aflac by 7,001.0% in 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 increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 10,878.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 554,803 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its position in shares of Aflac by 471.4% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 495,000 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp boosted 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 worth $172,338,000 after acquiring an additional 405,847 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,290,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.