HighTower Advisors LLC Acquires 20,032 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 468,053 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 20,032 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned 0.08% of Aflac worth $52,327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Aflac during the second quarter worth $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 41.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the third quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Aflac in the third quarter valued at about $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Aflac to $107.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Aflac from $115.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen started coverage on Aflac in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $98.73.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL stock traded up $0.75 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $107.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,897,707 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,213,192. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The firm's 50-day moving average is $111.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.01. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $75.07 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The company has a market cap of $59.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.97.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.47. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 22.02%. The company had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. The company's revenue was down 40.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a positive change from Aflac's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is 30.12%.

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.