Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Price Target Cut to $104.00 by Analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its target price lowered by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $107.00 to $104.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.00.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL opened at $102.98 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.07. The firm has a market cap of $57.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.99. Aflac has a fifty-two week low of $77.01 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. 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) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Aflac will post 6.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a boost from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. Aflac’s payout ratio is 20.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth $17,843,000. Unison Advisors LLC boosted its position in Aflac by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 45,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,734,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the period. Yoffe Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at $465,000. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 25,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,633,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 28.4% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 6,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,507 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.