Evercore ISI Has Lowered Expectations for Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock Price

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its target price lowered by equities research analysts at Evercore ISI from $104.00 to $102.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “underperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price objective would indicate a potential downside of 4.46% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on AFL. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays started coverage on Aflac in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.73.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $106.76 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Aflac has a 52 week low of $75.07 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.08, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $111.22 and a 200 day moving average of $101.93.

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

Institutional Trading of Aflac

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AFL. CWM LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 27,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,493,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Aflac by 22.7% in the 2nd quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 13,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,204,000 after purchasing an additional 2,491 shares in the last quarter. City Holding Co. boosted its stake in Aflac by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 50,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,524,000 after purchasing an additional 2,586 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Aflac by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,947,000 after buying an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. raised its position in shares of Aflac by 25.4% during the second quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.