Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Cuts Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Price Target to $107.00

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its price objective reduced by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $108.00 to $107.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Aflac to $107.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.29.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $101.01 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $106.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.72. The firm has a market cap of $56.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. Aflac has a 12 month low of $75.07 and a 12 month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Aflac will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.94%.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 6.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,807,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $429,319,000 after acquiring an additional 285,576 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac by 6.4% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,694,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $524,846,000 after purchasing an additional 281,148 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. grew its position in Aflac by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 2,429,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $202,437,000 after purchasing an additional 31,752 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,276,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $254,382,000 after buying an additional 83,289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,220,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $198,279,000 after buying an additional 117,504 shares during the period. 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.