Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Price Target Raised to $94.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its price objective raised by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $90.00 to $94.00 in a report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com lowered Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.13.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL opened at $102.69 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market cap of $57.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.47, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $106.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $104.66. Aflac has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Aflac will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.94%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AFL. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Aflac by 2.1% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 188,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,823,000 after buying an additional 3,861 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 18,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,611,000 after acquiring an additional 1,862 shares during the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. grew its holdings in Aflac by 5.3% during the second quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 35,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,163,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 28.8% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 11,842 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,058,000 after purchasing an additional 2,647 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Aflac by 7,001.0% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 667,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 658,303 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

About Aflac

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.