Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Given New $118.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its price target lifted by Morgan Stanley from $113.00 to $118.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Piper Sandler set a $125.00 target price on Aflac and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.00.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL stock opened at $112.17 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $109.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.97. Aflac has a 12-month low of $96.95 and a 12-month high of $115.83. The firm has a market cap of $58.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Aflac will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 30.29%.

Aflac announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Frederic Jean Guy Simard sold 1,722 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $193,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 1,364 shares in the company, valued at $153,450. This represents a 55.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.00, for a total value of $114,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 23,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,692,110. The trade was a 4.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AFL. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 1.1% during the first 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 buying an additional 56,776 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Aflac by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,414,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $493,047,000 after acquiring an additional 310,220 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 594,971 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at about $432,201,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,926,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $438,621,000 after purchasing an additional 13,666 shares in the last quarter. 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.