Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Given New $81.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its target price decreased by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $83.00 to $81.00 in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 0.14% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered shares of Aflac from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.85.

Aflac Stock Down 2.4 %

NYSE:AFL traded down $2.03 on Thursday, hitting $80.89. 286,064 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,186,879. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $81.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.06 and a quick ratio of 0.06. Aflac has a 52 week low of $64.10 and a 52 week high of $86.26. The company has a market cap of $46.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total transaction of $666,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 32,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,735,635.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Aflac news, 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 86,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,879,451.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total transaction of $666,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 32,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,735,635.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aflac

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Aflac by 36.2% in the 1st 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 during the period. Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in shares of Aflac by 6.8% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 17,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,112,000 after buying an additional 1,102 shares during the period. Aviva PLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 0.7% during the first 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter worth $428,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 7.3% during the first 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 during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Aflac

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.