Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Price Target Cut to $107.00 by Analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its price target decreased by research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $108.00 to $107.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “market perform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price suggests a potential upside of 4.37% from the stock’s current price.

AFL has been the topic of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America raised their price target on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.29.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $102.52 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $106.71 and a 200-day moving average of $104.64. Aflac has a 52 week low of $75.07 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The company has a market capitalization of $56.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.44, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 EPS 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 company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Aflac will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s 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 in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Spinnaker Trust increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.7% during the third quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 3,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 9,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,094,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC raised its holdings in Aflac by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 17,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,539,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 21,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,945,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $469,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.