Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock Price

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) had its price objective decreased by research analysts at Barclays from $99.00 to $98.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "underweight" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Barclays's price objective points to a potential downside of 18.64% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho set a $104.00 price target on Aflac in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $112.18.

Aflac Price Performance

Aflac stock opened at $120.45 on Tuesday. Aflac has a one year low of $96.95 and a one year high of $121.53. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $116.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.67, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.61.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac will post 7.09 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 12,370 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.54, for a total transaction of $1,441,599.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 33,310 shares in the company, valued at $3,881,947.40. The trade was a 27.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 27,845 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.71, for a total transaction of $3,249,789.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 50,898,490 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,940,362,767.90. This represents a 0.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 997,071 shares of company stock worth $115,529,904 over the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aflac

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Groupe la Francaise bought a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Evergreen Advisors LLC bought a new position in Aflac during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac's product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.

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