Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Given New $101.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its target price boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $100.00 to $101.00 in a report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $110.20.

Aflac Trading Up 2.2%

NYSE:AFL opened at $111.23 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $59.49 billion, a PE ratio of 25.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.86. Aflac has a fifty-two week low of $96.95 and a fifty-two week high of $115.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $108.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.63.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 52.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the sale, the director owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the second quarter valued at about $432,201,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Aflac during the first quarter valued at about $140,746,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Aflac by 16.7% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,167,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $439,545,000 after acquiring an additional 594,971 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $60,954,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 459.0% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 701,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,969,000 after acquiring an additional 575,915 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.