Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Has Lowered Expectations for Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock Price

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its target price dropped by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $108.00 to $107.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market perform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 5.93% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on AFL. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Aflac to $107.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays raised their target price on Aflac from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.29.

Aflac Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $101.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. Aflac has a 1 year low of $75.07 and a 1 year high of $115.50. The company has a market cap of $56.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.21, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $106.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.82.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Aflac will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership bought a new position in Aflac during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Aflac by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

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.