Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Cuts Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Price Target to $107.00

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its target price trimmed by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $108.00 to $107.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on AFL. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.29.

Aflac Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of AFL opened at $101.01 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $56.11 billion, a PE ratio of 15.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company’s fifty day moving average is $106.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $104.93. Aflac has a fifty-two week low of $75.07 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Aflac will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 34.94%.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted 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 boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $67,080,000 after buying an additional 495,000 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp grew 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 in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,290,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Aflac by 75.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,533,000 after acquiring an additional 333,083 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.