Raymond James Has Lowered Expectations for Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock Price

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) had its target price decreased by investment analysts at Raymond James from $115.00 to $110.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Raymond James' price objective would suggest a potential upside of 6.29% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Aflac from $102.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aflac has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.93.

Aflac Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of AFL stock traded up $0.68 on Thursday, hitting $103.49. The stock had a trading volume of 3,415,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,122,918. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $106.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.21. The company has a market cap of $55.95 billion, a PE ratio of 10.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84. Aflac has a one year low of $86.46 and a one year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.66 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Aflac will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Arthur Reginald Collins sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.70, for a total transaction of $290,675.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at $711,149.60. This represents a 29.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total transaction of $3,906,830.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 70,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,496,045.28. The trade was a 34.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 71,552 shares of company stock valued at $7,609,382. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aflac

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 121.9% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise purchased a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Aflac in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.