Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Price Target Raised to $84.00 at Morgan Stanley

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its price objective lifted by Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $84.00 in a research report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on AFL. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Evercore ISI cut shares of Aflac from an in-line rating to an underperform rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $82.15.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $80.27 on Monday. Aflac has a 12-month low of $64.10 and a 12-month high of $86.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.19 billion, a PE ratio of 10.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $81.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.44.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at $6,879,451.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,920 shares in the company, valued at $1,516,390.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706 over the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. raised its holdings in Aflac by 80.0% in the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Studio Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 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.