Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Price Target Raised to $115.00 at Bank of America

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its price target boosted by Bank of America from $108.00 to $115.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on AFL. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. UBS Group raised their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $92.50.

Aflac Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of AFL opened at $108.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Aflac has a 1 year low of $73.79 and a 1 year high of $111.14. The stock has a market cap of $61.87 billion, a PE ratio of 12.02, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.95.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.22% and a net margin of 28.35%. The firm had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.58 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac will post 6.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total value of $197,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the second quarter valued at $3,099,000. Centennial Bank AR boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 28.7% during the second quarter. Centennial Bank AR now owns 875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at $366,000. Heartland Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth about $290,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in Aflac by 26.6% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,929,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $172,338,000 after acquiring an additional 405,847 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.