Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Trading Down 4.1% After Analyst Downgrade

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) was down 4.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $83.00 to $81.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Aflac traded as low as $79.47 and last traded at $79.51. Approximately 1,968,426 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 11% from the average daily volume of 2,210,671 shares. The stock had previously closed at $82.92.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James increased their price objective on Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Evercore ISI cut Aflac from an "in-line" rating to an "underperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Aflac from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $81.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $445,850.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Aflac news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was 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 $2,735,635.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 3,000 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 5,592 shares in the company, valued at $445,850.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706 in the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 6,369 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew 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 worth $1,112,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,503 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management bought a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter valued at approximately $428,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Aflac by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,142 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Aflac Trading Down 4.0 %

The firm's 50 day moving average price is $81.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.91. 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 (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.44 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 24.92% and a return on equity of 17.59%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.