Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Price Target Increased to $115.00 by Analysts at Bank of America

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its target price boosted by Bank of America from $108.00 to $115.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on AFL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $92.50.

Aflac Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $110.50 on Wednesday. Aflac has a 1-year low of $73.62 and a 1-year high of $111.14. The company has a market cap of $62.79 billion, a PE ratio of 12.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a 50-day moving average of $98.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $89.54.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.23. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The business had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.58 earnings per share. Aflac’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Aflac will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.08%.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. grew its position in Aflac by 80.0% in the 1st quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 67.44% of the stock is 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.