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 reduced its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 32.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 12,050 shares during the period. 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 reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 64.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 5,708 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Aflac by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,402 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter worth $44,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter worth $473,000. Finally, Lake Street Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 1st quarter worth $211,000. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Aflac Price Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $112.24 on Friday. The firm has a market cap 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. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company's 50-day moving average is $106.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.41. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $96.95 and a 12-month high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. Research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, August 12th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is 52.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AFL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. Barclays set a $98.00 price objective on shares of Aflac and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aflac from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.15.

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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