Jefferies Financial Group Trims Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Target Price to $83.00

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its price objective decreased by Jefferies Financial Group from $84.00 to $83.00 in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on AFL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $83.46.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $89.31 on Friday. Aflac has a 52-week low of $68.34 and a 52-week high of $91.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The company has a market capitalization of $50.75 billion, a PE ratio of 9.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.96.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Aflac will post 6.46 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 22.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $50,904.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at $2,337,342. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction of $1,957,403.66. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,381,329.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $50,904.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at $2,337,342. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 16.6% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 438,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,427,000 after acquiring an additional 62,491 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the first quarter worth $66,000. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 412.8% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 106,917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,180,000 after buying an additional 86,069 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 161.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 311,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,723,000 after buying an additional 191,975 shares during the period. Finally, Beck Bode LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 10.1% in the first quarter. Beck Bode LLC now owns 141,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,149,000 after buying an additional 12,931 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.