Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Analyst Says

Key Points

• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised its price target on Aflac from $115 to $120, while keeping a “market perform” rating. The new target still implies a slight downside from the stock’s prior close.
• Other analysts have recently adjusted views on Aflac as well, with targets ranging from $108 to $130 and the consensus rating remaining “Hold”. The average target price across analysts is $114.50.
• Aflac reported quarterly EPS of $1.75, missing estimates, but revenue came in above expectations at $4.24 billion and rose 27.9% year over year. The stock was trading near its 52-week high at $121.98.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) had its target price increased by stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $115.00 to $120.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "market perform" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' price target indicates a potential downside of 1.62% from the company's previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Evercore raised Aflac from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wall Street Zen raised Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $108.00 price objective (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $114.50.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL stock opened at $121.98 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $116.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.30. Aflac has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $122.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.08 billion, a PE ratio of 13.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.61.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 12,370 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total value of $1,441,599.80. Following the sale, the director owned 33,310 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,881,947.40. This trade represents a 27.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total value of $3,249,789.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 50,898,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,940,362,767.90. This trade represents a 0.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 744,916 shares of company stock worth $87,118,632. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aflac

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,142,072 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,301,056,000 after purchasing an additional 6,759,169 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Aflac by 1.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,550,855 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $499,216,000 after purchasing an additional 67,650 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at $420,078,000. Amundi increased its stake in Aflac by 22.6% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 3,268,209 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $358,555,000 after buying an additional 603,426 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Aflac by 161.9% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,184,801 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $349,405,000 after buying an additional 1,968,738 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

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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