JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock Price

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) had its target price hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $90.00 to $94.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider's stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Aflac to $107.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $99.13.

Aflac Stock Up 0.9 %

AFL stock traded up $0.90 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $102.69. 1,670,482 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,660,795. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.47, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $107.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Aflac has a 1 year low of $75.07 and a 1 year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion during 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 firm's quarterly revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a $0.58 dividend. This is an increase from Aflac's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AFL. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Aflac by 2.1% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 188,370 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $16,823,000 after purchasing an additional 3,861 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 18,037 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,611,000 after purchasing an additional 1,862 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. raised its position in shares of Aflac by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 35,415 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,163,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 28.8% during the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 11,842 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,058,000 after purchasing an additional 2,647 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 7,001.0% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 667,706 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $596,000 after purchasing an additional 658,303 shares during the period. 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.