EP Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 2,433 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 17.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,677 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,433 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Aflac were worth $1,725,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 26,737 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,766,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Aflac by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 249,888 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,848,000 after purchasing an additional 4,558 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,102,255 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $114,017,000 after purchasing an additional 58,034 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at $1,277,000. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Aflac in the fourth quarter worth about $1,521,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $105.91 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $57.81 billion, a PE ratio of 11.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $85.43 and a 52-week high of $115.50. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $107.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. Aflac's revenue for the quarter was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac's payout ratio is currently 36.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a "market perform" rating and a $111.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Aflac from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $118.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.21.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total transaction of $3,197,456.58. Following the transaction, the director now owns 49,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. This trade represents a 37.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total transaction of $107,630.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,733,048.59. The trade was a 3.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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