Piper Sandler Issues Positive Forecast for Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock Price

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its target price upped by Piper Sandler from $118.00 to $124.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.29.

Aflac Stock Down 0.1 %

Aflac stock opened at $112.32 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $61.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a fifty day moving average of $106.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.74. Aflac has a twelve month low of $79.31 and a twelve month high of $115.50.

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

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total value of $3,197,456.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. The trade was a 37.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,733,048.59. The trade was a 3.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 653,275 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in 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 worth $1,286,042,000 after purchasing an additional 288,482 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Aflac by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,296,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $754,700,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357,753 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 11.9% in the fourth 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 valued at $543,154,000 after buying an additional 556,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $349,699,000. 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.