Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its price objective raised by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $113.00 to $118.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 3.41% from the company’s current price.

AFL has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $104.00 price objective (up previously from $102.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. UBS Group cut 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.00.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of Aflac stock traded down $0.23 on Monday, reaching $114.11. 299,536 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,182,159. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.81 billion, a PE ratio of 25.89, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.83. Aflac has a 1-year low of $96.95 and a 1-year high of $115.83. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $109.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.91. 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) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Aflac will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Frederic Jean Guy Simard sold 1,722 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $193,725.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 1,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $153,450. This represents a 55.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.00, for a total value of $114,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 23,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,692,110. The trade was a 4.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 313,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,040,000 after purchasing an additional 55,762 shares in the last quarter. Delta Global Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the third quarter worth about $2,582,000. Destination Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Aflac by 0.9% in the third quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 234,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,171,000 after buying an additional 2,092 shares during the last quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 2.1% during the third quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 21,346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,384,000 after buying an additional 439 shares during the period. Finally, Circle Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the third quarter worth approximately $208,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.