JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has Lowered Expectations for Aflac (NYSE:AFL) Stock Price

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) had its target price lowered by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $117.00 to $116.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective points to a potential downside of 4.27% from the company’s current price.

AFL has been the topic of several other reports. Wall Street Zen raised Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Mizuho set a $116.00 target price on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $108.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Aflac in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $138.00 price objective (up from $130.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.58.

Aflac Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE AFL traded down $0.77 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $121.17. The stock had a trading volume of 210,538 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,357,041. The company has a market cap of $61.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.99, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business’s 50 day moving average is $120.91 and its 200-day moving average is $115.50. Aflac has a 52 week low of $103.51 and a 52 week high of $130.22.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $4.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 26.91%.Aflac’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Aflac will post 7.05 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 63,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total value of $7,441,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 51,169,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,044,133,662.20. This represents a 0.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 695,673 shares of company stock worth $81,436,614. Insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aflac

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AFL. Trillium Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aflac in the second quarter valued at about $15,219,000. Sachem Hill LLC bought a new stake in Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $321,000. Somerville Kurt F bought a new stake in Aflac during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $504,000. MSH Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $209,000. Finally, Northcape Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $363,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aflac Company Profile

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.