Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) had its price objective decreased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $107.00 to $104.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the financial services provider's stock.
Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a "market perform" rating and a $111.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $103.00.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on AFL
Aflac Price Performance
NYSE AFL traded down $0.62 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $103.46. The stock had a trading volume of 1,450,313 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,719,400. Aflac has a 52-week low of $78.38 and a 52-week high of $115.50. The company has a market cap of $57.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.
Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. Equities analysts forecast that Aflac will post 6.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Aflac Increases Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This is a boost from Aflac's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.83%.
Insider Activity at Aflac
In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 13.3% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 252,137 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,206,000 after purchasing an additional 29,602 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the third quarter worth about $998,000. QV Investors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 0.6% during the third quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 45,350 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,070,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the third quarter worth about $218,000. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 3.1% during the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 50,379 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,632,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.
Aflac Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
See Also
Before you consider Aflac, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Aflac wasn't on the list.
While Aflac currently has a "Hold" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Wondering where to start (or end) with AI stocks? These 10 simple stocks can help investors build long-term wealth as artificial intelligence continues to grow into the future.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.
