Morgan Stanley Increases Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Price Target to $125.00

by · The Cerbat Gem

Aflac (NYSE:AFL – Get Free Report) had its target price upped by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $125.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 6.26% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $111.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Evercore raised shares of Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays set a $99.00 price target on shares of Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.82.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on AFL

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL stock traded up $0.42 on Thursday, reaching $117.64. 674,850 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,281,113. Aflac has a 1 year low of $96.95 and a 1 year high of $119.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $112.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.53. The company has a market cap of $59.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.62.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). Aflac had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 25.60%.The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.66 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Aflac will post 7.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total transaction of $18,655,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 51,723,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,641,978. This represents a 0.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 739,815 shares of company stock valued at $82,996,891 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AFL. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Groupe la Francaise purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Aflac

(Get Free Report)

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.

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