Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Price Target Cut to $98.00 by Analysts at Barclays

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its target price reduced by stock analysts at Barclays from $99.00 to $98.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “underweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price target suggests a potential downside of 18.64% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on AFL. Evercore upgraded Aflac from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Two 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.18.

Aflac Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $120.45 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $116.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $112.90. Aflac has a 12-month low of $96.95 and a 12-month high of $121.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The company’s revenue was up 27.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.66 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Aflac will post 7.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total value of $18,655,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,723,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,641,978. This represents a 0.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 997,071 shares of company stock valued at $115,529,904. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Aflac by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,142,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,301,056,000 after buying an additional 6,759,169 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,550,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $499,216,000 after acquiring an additional 67,650 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Aflac by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,926,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $438,621,000 after acquiring an additional 13,666 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $420,078,000. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 22.6% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 3,268,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $358,555,000 after purchasing an additional 603,426 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Aflac

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.