Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Price Target Raised to $125.00

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its target price raised by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $120.00 to $125.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on AFL. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings lowered Aflac from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price target (up from $101.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $99.00 target price (up from $98.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Friday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.58.

Aflac Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $121.09 on Tuesday. Aflac has a one year low of $104.66 and a one year high of $130.22. The company has a market cap of $60.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.98, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.12. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $121.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $115.78.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.01). Aflac had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 26.91%.The firm had revenue of $4.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Aflac will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total transaction of $7,441,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 51,169,435 shares in the company, valued at $6,044,133,662.20. This represents a 0.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 620,033 shares of company stock valued at $72,650,201. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aflac

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Groupe la Francaise acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth $25,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.