Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock Price

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley has raised Aflac's target price from $108.00 to $113.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.26% from the stock's previous close.
• Aflac recently announced a share buyback plan allowing it to repurchase 100 million shares, signaling management's belief that the stock is undervalued.
• The company's last quarterly earnings report showed $1.78 EPS, exceeding analyst expectations, while revenue decreased by 19% year-over-year.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) had its price objective increased by Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $113.00 in a research report released on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider's stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on AFL. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.15.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL traded up $0.1650 on Monday, hitting $108.0650. The company had a trading volume of 3,395,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,534,582. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $102.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $104.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.07, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.83. Aflac has a 52 week low of $96.95 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Aflac will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be given a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Aflac's payout ratio is currently 52.61%.

Aflac announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at $2,575,019.85. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the second quarter worth about $363,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 668.3% in the second quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 19,360 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,042,000 after purchasing an additional 16,840 shares in the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the second quarter worth about $145,000. Rexford Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Aflac during the second quarter valued at approximately $801,000. Finally, Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC grew its stake in Aflac by 5.8% during the second quarter. Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 52,855 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,574,000 after acquiring an additional 2,900 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.