Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Price Target Raised to $118.00

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its price target boosted by Morgan Stanley from $113.00 to $118.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Aflac from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $104.00 price target (up from $102.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.00.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $109.33 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $109.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.79, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Aflac has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $115.83.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. Sell-side analysts expect that Aflac will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.29%.

Aflac announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 3,452 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.10, for a total value of $397,325.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 230,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,552,188.80. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Frederic Jean Guy Simard sold 1,722 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $193,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 1,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $153,450. The trade was a 55.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 6,960 shares of company stock worth $794,458 in the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 64.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after buying an additional 5,708 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its position in Aflac by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $455,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.8% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 286,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,842,000 after purchasing an additional 2,385 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 20,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,227,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OneAscent Financial Services LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 88.7% during the 1st quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 4,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 2,083 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

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.