Empower Advisory Group LLC Acquires 225 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $391,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Raelipskie Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on AFL. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Aflac in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.86.

Aflac Stock Performance

AFL stock opened at $104.53 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $104.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $58.07 billion, a PE ratio of 10.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.99. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $78.38 and a 1-year high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. This is a positive change from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. Aflac’s payout ratio is 20.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total value of $2,558,529.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 222,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

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.