HighTower Advisors LLC Raises Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Aflac by 1.9% in the first quarter, owning approximately 0.14% of the company, valued at $83.16 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Aflac announced a share buyback plan to repurchase up to 100 million outstanding shares, indicating that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.
• The company reported a quarterly EPS of $1.78, beating estimates, but its revenue fell by 19% year-over-year, totaling $4.16 billion.

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 747,919 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 14,290 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Aflac worth $83,161,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new position in Aflac during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Aflac by 121.9% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 90.8% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 330 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $102,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 25,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total transaction of $3,906,830.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 70,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,496,045.28. This represents a 34.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AFL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Aflac from $114.00 to $111.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Evercore ISI reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $106.00 price target (up from $105.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $108.54.

Aflac Stock Up 0.0%

AFL stock traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $105.35. 2,645,887 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,172,469. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11. The firm's 50-day moving average is $102.53 and its 200-day moving average is $104.87. The company has a market cap of $56.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.89, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.83. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 15.08%. The company's revenue was down 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.61%.

Aflac Company 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.