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

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its price target increased by Mizuho from $112.00 to $117.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an underperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Aflac from $122.00 to $116.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings raised Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Aflac from $137.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $118.73.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL traded up $0.93 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $127.44. The stock had a trading volume of 1,750,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,671,527. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.55. Aflac has a 52 week low of $105.76 and a 52 week high of $131.18. The company’s fifty day moving average is $118.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.66.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.63. The company had revenue of $4.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 12.82%. Aflac’s quarterly revenue was down 31.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.49 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Aflac will post 7.29 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 17th will be given a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 17th. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 35.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.99, for a total transaction of $74,994.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 32,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,014,553.81. This represents a 1.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.89, for a total value of $1,649,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 50,121,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,359,895,436.81. This represents a 0.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 699,562 shares of company stock valued at $81,687,749 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Aflac in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,093,787,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Aflac in the second quarter valued at approximately $404,639,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Aflac by 98.0% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,223,056 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $583,833,000 after acquiring an additional 2,584,948 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth $298,418,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 2nd quarter worth $244,516,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aflac News Summary

Investors following AFL have been watching these news items:

• Positive Sentiment: Aflac raised its quarterly dividend 4.9%, from $0.61 to $0.64 per share. The new annualized payout is $2.56 per share, or about a 2.0% yield. Aflac dividend announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Director Joseph Moskowitz sold 600 shares and major shareholder Post Holdings’ Japan entity sold 13,000 shares. Both transactions were made under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans and were small compared with their remaining holdings.
• Negative Sentiment: Mizuho raised its target to $117 from $112 but retained an “underperform” rating, signaling limited upside in its view. Mizuho forecast update

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated is an insurance company that provides supplemental health and life insurance to individuals and businesses. Its products are designed to help customers manage expenses that may not be covered by major medical insurance, including costs associated with accidents, cancer, critical illness and hospital stays. The company operates primarily in the United States and Japan. In the U.S., Aflac offers workplace benefits such as accident, disability, dental, vision and life insurance. In Japan, it provides products including cancer, medical and life insurance.