Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $117.20 According to Analysts

Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $117.53.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AFL. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $138.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $107.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $103.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Aflac from $122.00 to $116.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 12th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 113,611 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.53, for a total value of $13,466,311.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 50,134,329 shares in the company, valued at $5,942,422,016.37. The trade was a 0.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 713,062 shares of company stock valued at $83,249,518 over the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aflac

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Groupe la Francaise acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Archer Investment Corp acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Evergreen Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $125.33 on Friday. Aflac has a 52 week low of $105.76 and a 52 week high of $131.18. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $117.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.29. The firm has a market cap of $62.83 billion, a PE ratio of 16.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.63. Aflac had a return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 21.24%. The business had revenue of $4.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.49 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 31.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Aflac will post 7.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 18th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 35.57%.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated is an insurance company that provides supplemental health and life insurance to individuals and businesses. Its products are designed to help customers manage expenses that may not be covered by major medical insurance, including costs associated with accidents, cancer, critical illness and hospital stays.

The company operates primarily in the United States and Japan. In the U.S., Aflac offers workplace benefits such as accident, disability, dental, vision and life insurance.