JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Price Target to $94.00

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its target price lifted by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $90.00 to $94.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective points to a potential downside of 9.19% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Bank of America raised their price target on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Aflac to $107.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.13.

Aflac Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE AFL opened at $103.51 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $57.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $106.73 and its 200-day moving average is $104.65. Aflac has a one year low of $75.07 and a one year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. Aflac’s revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership acquired a new position in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Aflac by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.