Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Price Target to $81.00

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its target price decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $81.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Aflac from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Raymond James increased their target price on Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Aflac from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $81.85.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $80.28 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $46.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.36, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $81.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.39. Aflac has a twelve month low of $64.10 and a twelve month high of $86.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.22). Aflac had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 24.92%. The company had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Aflac will post 6.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total transaction of $423,100.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $239,190.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $445,850.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706 in the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 36.2% during the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 6,369 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in Aflac by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 17,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 210,634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,563,000 after buying an additional 1,503 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter worth $428,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Aflac by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is currently 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.