Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Price Target Cut to $83.00

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its price target lowered by stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $84.00 to $83.00 in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price indicates a potential downside of 7.07% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Aflac from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Aflac from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Aflac from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.46.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE AFL opened at $89.31 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.86, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.96. Aflac has a fifty-two week low of $68.34 and a fifty-two week high of $91.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 27.67%. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Aflac will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $50,904.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,337,342. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 22,378 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.47, for a total transaction of $1,957,403.66. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 61,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,381,329.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 600 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $50,904.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,337,342. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $197,820,000. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Aflac by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,643,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $740,141,000 after buying an additional 794,784 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Aflac by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,208,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,160,465,000 after buying an additional 605,210 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Aflac by 8,861.1% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 449,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,113,000 after buying an additional 444,829 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Aflac by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,693,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $139,676,000 after buying an additional 348,400 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.