Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Mizuho Analyst Says

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its price target raised by analysts at Mizuho from $112.00 to $117.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Mizuho‘s price objective indicates a potential downside of 7.88% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Aflac from $116.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $103.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $116.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Aflac from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Aflac from $137.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $118.20.

Aflac Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $127.01 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $118.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $116.48. The company has a market capitalization of $62.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. Aflac has a 52-week low of $105.76 and a 52-week high of $131.18.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.63. The company had revenue of $4.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 21.24%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 31.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.49 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac will post 7.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 113,611 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.53, for a total value of $13,466,311.83. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 50,134,329 shares in the company, valued at $5,942,422,016.37. The trade was a 0.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 700,062 shares of company stock valued at $81,675,348. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Archer Investment Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the second quarter worth $26,000. Groupe la Francaise bought a new position in Aflac during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new position in Aflac during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Aflac during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Markowski Investments acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated is an insurance company that provides supplemental health and life insurance to individuals and businesses. Its products are designed to help customers manage expenses that may not be covered by major medical insurance, including costs associated with accidents, cancer, critical illness and hospital stays. The company operates primarily in the United States and Japan. In the U.S., Aflac offers workplace benefits such as accident, disability, dental, vision and life insurance. In Japan, it provides products including cancer, medical and life insurance.