Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Price Target Raised to $101.00

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its price objective boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $100.00 to $101.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target indicates a potential downside of 9.63% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $104.00 price objective (up previously from $102.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.20.

Aflac Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of AFL stock traded up $2.95 on Wednesday, reaching $111.76. 1,570,451 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,183,032. The stock has a market cap of $59.77 billion, a PE ratio of 25.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86. Aflac has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $115.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $108.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.59.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Aflac will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 25,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AFL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the second quarter worth about $432,201,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter worth about $140,746,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Aflac by 16.7% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,167,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $439,545,000 after buying an additional 594,971 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of Aflac during the second quarter valued at approximately $60,954,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 459.0% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 701,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,969,000 after purchasing an additional 575,915 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by 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.