Aflac (NYSE:AFL) PT Raised to $82.00

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its price objective lifted by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $82.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target suggests a potential downside of 4.61% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on AFL. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.38.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of Aflac stock traded up $0.58 during trading on Friday, hitting $85.96. 370,778 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,265,432. Aflac has a 52-week low of $64.10 and a 52-week high of $86.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.46, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.91.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 16.88%. Aflac’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Aflac will post 6.43 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Aflac news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total transaction of $666,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,735,635.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,390.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,093 shares of company stock valued at $3,816,610 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 80.0% in the 1st quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by 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.