Bank of America Boosts Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Price Target to $124.00

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its target price raised by Bank of America from $115.00 to $124.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday. They issued a hold rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $97.53.

Aflac Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $113.26 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.36 billion, a PE ratio of 12.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95. Aflac has a 1 year low of $75.07 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $107.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.90.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Aflac will post 6.76 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.08%.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,796,552.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 6.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,807,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $429,319,000 after buying an additional 285,576 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its position in Aflac by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,429,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $202,437,000 after acquiring an additional 31,752 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its position in Aflac by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,276,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $254,382,000 after acquiring an additional 83,289 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 5.6% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,220,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $198,279,000 after purchasing an additional 117,504 shares during the period. Finally, Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 26.6% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,929,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $172,338,000 after purchasing an additional 405,847 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.