Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Price Target Raised to $120.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo raised Aflac’s price target from $111 to $120, while keeping an equal weight rating on the stock. The new target still implies a slight downside from the previous close.
• Aflac’s shares were trading around $121.88, near their 52-week high of $122.80, and the stock has gained attention from several other analysts with mixed ratings and targets.
• The company recently reported mixed quarterly results: earnings of $1.75 per share missed estimates, but revenue of $4.24 billion came in above expectations and rose 27.9% year over year.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) had its price objective lifted by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $111.00 to $120.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "equal weight" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target would indicate a potential downside of 1.54% from the company's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on AFL. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Evercore raised Aflac from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Mizuho set a $112.00 target price on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aflac has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $114.64.

Aflac Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:AFL traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $121.88. The company had a trading volume of 640,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,412,444. Aflac has a 12 month low of $96.95 and a 12 month high of $122.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $62.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.83, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $116.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $113.13.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Aflac will post 7.08 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total value of $7,441,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 744,916 shares of company stock worth $87,118,632 over the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AFL. DNB Asset Management AS raised its position in shares of Aflac by 51.3% in the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 168,003 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $18,526,000 after purchasing an additional 56,975 shares during the last quarter. BIP Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 348.3% in the fourth quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 55,723 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,145,000 after acquiring an additional 43,293 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,743,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Aflac by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,866,471 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $206,712,000 after buying an additional 97,766 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dorato Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth $20,865,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Company Profile

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.

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