Brokerages Set Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Target Price at $108.23

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the thirteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $108.5385.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AFL shares. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $106.00 target price (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th.

Insider Activity

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total transaction of $3,906,830.00. Following the sale, the director owned 70,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,496,045.28. This represents a 34.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Aflac by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,296,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $754,700,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357,753 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,307,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $590,161,000 after acquiring an additional 56,776 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,250,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $543,154,000 after acquiring an additional 556,394 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Aflac by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,167,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $439,545,000 after acquiring an additional 594,971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at $432,201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of AFL stock opened at $105.35 on Thursday. Aflac has a 52-week low of $96.95 and a 52-week high of $115.50. The stock has a market cap of $56.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $102.56 and a 200-day moving average of $104.83.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.07. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The company had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be given a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.61%.

Aflac announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.