Evercore ISI Issues Positive Forecast for Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock Price

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its target price boosted by Evercore ISI from $110.00 to $111.00 in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has an “underperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Evercore ISI’s target price indicates a potential downside of 2.72% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on AFL. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $104.00 price objective (up from $102.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler set a $125.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $110.30.

Aflac Stock Up 0.4%

AFL stock traded up $0.41 during trading on Friday, hitting $114.11. 314,971 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,183,895. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $108.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.69. Aflac has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 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 market cap of $61.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.83.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%.The business had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 188.5% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Aflac by 1,526.7% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

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.