JPMorgan Chase & Co. Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its target price boosted by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $108.00 to $117.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective points to a potential downside of 5.39% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Aflac from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $124.00 target price (up from $114.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Mizuho set a $112.00 target price on Aflac in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Evercore raised Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $108.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Friday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.17.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $123.67 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $62.95 billion, a PE ratio of 14.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $118.30 and a 200-day moving average of $114.01. Aflac has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $125.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aflac will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total transaction of $7,441,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 51,169,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,044,133,662.20. This represents a 0.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 744,916 shares of company stock valued at $87,118,632. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Groupe la Francaise acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Evergreen Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.