Brokerages Set Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Price Target at $82.15

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $82.15.

A number of analysts have issued reports on AFL shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered Aflac from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $78.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL opened at $83.61 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $82.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Aflac has a 1 year low of $64.10 and a 1 year high of $86.26. The stock has a market cap of $48.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.79, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.91.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.22). The firm had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 24.92%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Aflac will post 6.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total value of $2,436,695.63. Following the sale, the director now owns 86,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,879,451.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total value of $2,436,695.63. Following the sale, the director now owns 86,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,879,451.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $239,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,592 shares in the company, valued at $445,850.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,558,000. abrdn plc raised its position in Aflac by 51.2% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 298,226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,604,000 after purchasing an additional 100,937 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Aflac by 353.3% in the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 14,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 11,499 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,693,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $139,676,000 after purchasing an additional 348,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, G&S Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 65.1% in the fourth quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 31,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,626,000 after buying an additional 12,551 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by 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.