Aflac Incorporated $AFL Shares Sold by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lowered its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 32.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,050 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,616,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,070,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 1st quarter worth approximately $551,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Aflac by 121.9% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in Aflac by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 32,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,478,000 after purchasing an additional 3,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Aflac during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,626,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Evercore ISI reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $106.00 target price (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.15.

Aflac Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $112.24 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $96.95 and a 52-week high of $115.50. The company has a 50 day moving average of $106.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.41. The company has a market capitalization of $60.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.86.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%.The business’s revenue was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is 52.61%.

Aflac declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

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.