UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Has $543.15 Million Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,250,905 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 556,394 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned about 0.95% of Aflac worth $543,154,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Aflac by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,340,298 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,310,640,000 after purchasing an additional 653,275 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,465,433 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,286,042,000 after acquiring an additional 288,482 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,296,014 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $754,700,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357,753 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Aflac in the 4th quarter worth $349,699,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Aflac by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,226,681 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $333,768,000 after purchasing an additional 47,119 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $109.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays increased their target price on Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Aflac from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Aflac has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $104.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.59, for a total value of $3,906,830.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 70,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,496,045.28. This trade represents a 34.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.63, for a total value of $107,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,733,048.59. This trade represents a 3.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 71,552 shares of company stock worth $7,609,382 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of Aflac stock traded up $0.14 during trading on Monday, hitting $102.59. 1,641,470 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,117,753. The company has a market cap of $55.46 billion, a PE ratio of 10.69, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $106.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $106.40. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $86.46 and a twelve month high of $115.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.67 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. Aflac's quarterly revenue was down 37.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. Analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. Aflac's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.25%.

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.