Piper Sandler Boosts Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Price Target to $122.00

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its price target hoisted by investment analysts at Piper Sandler from $114.00 to $122.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price target indicates a potential upside of 8.13% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Citigroup increased their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.93.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $112.83 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $64.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $105.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.38. Aflac has a one year low of $74.89 and a one year high of $112.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.10.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The firm had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.58 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Aflac will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at $1,796,552.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in Aflac by 0.6% in the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 17,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,539,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 21,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,945,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.3% in the second quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 8,337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $745,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 3.7% during the second quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 3,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its position in Aflac by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 21,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,942,000 after purchasing an additional 116 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.