Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Price Target Raised to $117.00

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its price objective upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $108.00 to $117.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

AFL has been the topic of several other research reports. Mizuho set a $112.00 price objective on Aflac in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Aflac from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $108.00 target price (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Evercore upgraded shares of Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Aflac from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.17.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $124.36 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $118.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $114.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.12, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Aflac has a 52-week low of $96.95 and a 52-week high of $125.93.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.70%.

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 dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total value of $7,441,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 51,169,435 shares in the company, valued at $6,044,133,662.20. This represents a 0.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 744,916 shares of company stock worth $87,118,632. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Groupe la Francaise acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the first quarter worth $25,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Evergreen Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth $29,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.