Analysts Set Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Price Target at $103.36

Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $103.36.

Several analysts have issued reports on AFL shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $108.10 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $59.08 billion, a PE ratio of 11.26, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. Aflac has a 12 month low of $79.31 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $105.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.61.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. On average, research analysts predict that Aflac will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total transaction of $3,197,456.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. This represents a 37.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total transaction of $107,630.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,733,048.59. This trade represents a 3.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 55,546 shares of company stock worth $5,863,616. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,340,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,310,640,000 after purchasing an additional 653,275 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,465,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,286,042,000 after purchasing an additional 288,482 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,296,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $754,700,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357,753 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,250,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $543,154,000 after acquiring an additional 556,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $349,699,000. 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.