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

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its target price decreased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $108.00 to $107.00 in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Aflac to $107.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.29.

Aflac Trading Down 2.5 %

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. Aflac has a 12-month low of $75.07 and a 12-month high of $115.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $106.63 and a 200 day moving average of $104.72.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The company’s revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Aflac will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.94%.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 75.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 776,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,533,000 after acquiring an additional 333,083 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 79.7% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,058,000 after purchasing an additional 12,131 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the third quarter worth $979,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 4.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,202,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $134,395,000 after purchasing an additional 45,745 shares during the period. Finally, Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the third quarter worth about $250,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.