Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Downgraded to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Aflac (NYSE:AFL) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

AFL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Aflac from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI cut Aflac from an in-line rating to an underperform rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Piper Sandler boosted 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, Raymond James boosted their price target on Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $82.00.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of Aflac stock opened at $82.91 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $81.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.70, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.91. Aflac has a twelve month low of $64.10 and a twelve month high of $86.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

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

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total value of $239,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $445,850.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.73, for a total transaction of $239,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $445,850.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 30,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.91, for a total value of $2,436,695.63. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,879,451.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706 over the last three months. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 80.0% during the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Studio Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. 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.