Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Stake Boosted by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 7.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 95,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,867 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Aflac were worth $9,843,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Aflac by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in Aflac during the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the 3rd quarter worth about $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Up 0.3 %

AFL stock opened at $104.82 on Monday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $75.07 and a 52 week high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $105.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.93. The company has a market capitalization of $58.23 billion, a PE ratio of 15.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.12%.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other Aflac news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AFL shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Aflac from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Aflac in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price target for the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.67.

Aflac 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.