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

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its price objective cut by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $107.00 to $104.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “market perform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 0.88% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AFL. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays dropped their price target on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.00.

Aflac Stock Up 0.5 %

AFL stock opened at $103.09 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $57.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $104.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.02. Aflac has a fifty-two week low of $77.01 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. As a group, analysts forecast that Aflac will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AFL. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in Aflac by 13.3% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 252,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,206,000 after acquiring an additional 29,602 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at about $998,000. QV Investors Inc. increased its position in shares of Aflac by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 45,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,070,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $218,000. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 3.1% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 50,379 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,632,000 after buying an additional 1,509 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by 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.