Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Price Target Increased to $122.00 by Analysts at Piper Sandler

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its target price upped by Piper Sandler from $114.00 to $122.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $95.43.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $115.26 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a current ratio of 0.10. The company has a 50-day moving average of $106.42 and a 200-day moving average of $93.94. Aflac has a 52 week low of $75.07 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The company has a market capitalization of $65.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.72, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.95.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.23. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.58 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 22.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,796,552.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 86,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,096,000 after purchasing an additional 15,855 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,806,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $155,140,000 after buying an additional 113,226 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 98,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,800,000 after acquiring an additional 5,912 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its position in shares of Aflac by 3.3% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 718,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,653,000 after acquiring an additional 22,637 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Aflac by 13.9% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 708,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,810,000 after purchasing an additional 86,578 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.