Empowered Funds LLC Buys 4,654 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 34,585 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,654 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $3,867,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 19,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,154,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the period. Dearborn Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 3.5% in the third quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 5,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $618,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 4.6% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 90,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,074,000 after purchasing an additional 3,969 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,373,000 after buying an additional 771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Aflac by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 14,634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,636,000 after buying an additional 2,015 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of AFL opened at $112.04 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.89. The company has a market cap of $62.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $75.07 and a twelve month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 16.34%. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays began coverage on shares of Aflac in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Aflac from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.93.

About Aflac

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.