Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its target price raised by analysts at Barclays from $96.00 to $98.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective suggests a potential downside of 4.57% from the stock’s previous close.

AFL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Aflac to $107.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.87.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $102.69. The company had a trading volume of 502,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,174,039. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $107.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.48. 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 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The company has a market capitalization of $57.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Aflac will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Aflac by 2.1% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 188,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,823,000 after buying an additional 3,861 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 18,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,611,000 after purchasing an additional 1,862 shares during the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. increased its position in shares of Aflac by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 35,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,163,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 28.8% in the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 11,842 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,058,000 after purchasing an additional 2,647 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 7,001.0% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 667,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 658,303 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.