Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its target price boosted by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $109.00 to $118.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 5.40% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Mizuho set a $107.00 price objective on Aflac in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Evercore upped their price target on Aflac from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $120.00 price target on Aflac in a report on Monday, December 15th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $119.00 price objective (up from $110.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.73.

Aflac Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of AFL traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $111.95. The company had a trading volume of 93,324 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,260,117. Aflac has a 1-year low of $96.95 and a 1-year high of $119.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $111.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.88. The stock has a market cap of $58.68 billion, a PE ratio of 16.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.67.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.12). Aflac had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The firm had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Aflac will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Steven Kent Beaver sold 7,387 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.58, for a total value of $839,015.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 40,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,602,943.08. This trade represents a 15.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 16,331 shares of company stock worth $1,817,720 over the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aflac

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,731,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $193,407,000 after purchasing an additional 163,791 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,768,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $196,662,000 after purchasing an additional 65,308 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 126.1% during the third quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 21,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,384,000 after purchasing an additional 11,903 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Aflac by 12.0% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 97,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,841,000 after buying an additional 10,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Aflac by 31.0% in the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 55,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,146,000 after buying an additional 13,017 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Aflac

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.