Evercore ISI Boosts Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Price Target to $90.00

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its price objective boosted by Evercore ISI from $84.00 to $90.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $93.36.

Aflac Stock Up 0.5 %

AFL stock opened at $110.59 on Thursday. Aflac has a fifty-two week low of $74.89 and a fifty-two week high of $111.14. The stock has a market cap of $62.84 billion, a PE ratio of 12.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.58 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac will post 6.75 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its holdings in Aflac by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 3,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in Aflac by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 81,913 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,758,000 after purchasing an additional 4,828 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Aflac by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 185,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,292,000 after acquiring an additional 7,218 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Aflac by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 633,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,262,000 after buying an additional 44,875 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV purchased a new position in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth about $622,000. Institutional investors 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.