Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) Shares Acquired by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 56.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 733,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 265,576 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $75,887,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,694,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $524,846,000 after buying an additional 281,148 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Aflac by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,226,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $333,768,000 after buying an additional 47,119 shares during the period. Amundi increased its stake in Aflac by 81.1% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,753,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,181,000 after buying an additional 1,232,683 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its stake in Aflac by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,395,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $247,682,000 after buying an additional 118,720 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Aflac by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,616,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $167,239,000 after buying an additional 32,220 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,733,048.59. The trade was a 3.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total transaction of $3,197,456.58. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,360,422.98. The trade was a 37.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,546 shares of company stock valued at $5,863,616 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $104.67 on Thursday. 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 Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $79.31 and a fifty-two week high of $115.50. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $105.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.70. The company has a market cap of $57.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

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.