Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Trading Down 4.1% After Analyst Downgrade

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)’s stock price fell 4.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $83.00 to $81.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Aflac traded as low as $79.47 and last traded at $79.51. 1,968,426 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 11% from the average session volume of 2,210,671 shares. The stock had previously closed at $82.92.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Evercore ISI downgraded Aflac from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $78.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aflac news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total transaction of $2,436,695.63. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,879,451.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total value of $666,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,735,635.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total value of $2,436,695.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,879,451.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AFL. &PARTNERS increased its position in Aflac by 120.7% during the first quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 19,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,676,000 after buying an additional 10,591 shares in the last quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd boosted its holdings in Aflac by 0.4% in the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 47,346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,065,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. acquired a new position in Aflac in the first quarter valued at $429,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. boosted its holdings in Aflac by 80.0% in the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aprio Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac by 32.2% in the first quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 787 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Stock Down 4.0 %

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.06 and a quick ratio of 0.06. The company has a market capitalization of $45.83 billion, a PE ratio of 10.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.91.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.22). Aflac had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 24.92%. The business had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Aflac

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.