HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 42,749 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 5.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 884,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 42,749 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.18% of Aflac worth $103,735,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DNB Asset Management AS boosted its holdings in shares of Aflac by 51.3% in the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 168,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,526,000 after buying an additional 56,975 shares during the last quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in Aflac during the fourth quarter worth $3,743,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. bought a new stake in Aflac during the second quarter worth $6,630,000. Atlas Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter valued at $1,802,000. Finally, Integrated Investment Consultants LLC lifted its stake in Aflac by 716.1% in the fourth quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 17,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,926,000 after acquiring an additional 15,325 shares during the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 53,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.74, for a total transaction of $6,240,220.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 51,014,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,006,474,898.90. This trade represents a 0.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 468,015 shares of company stock valued at $54,991,090 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Aflac this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Aflac partnered with actor Ben Affleck and its iconic duck for a new advertising campaign, including branded billboards and social-media activity in Los Angeles. The campaign could increase consumer awareness and support future policy sales, although its direct financial impact is uncertain. Ben Affleck and the Aflac Duck Unite for New Ad Campaign
• Positive Sentiment: Aflac remains attractive to income-focused and defensive investors. The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, equivalent to $2.44 annually, with an approximately 2.1% yield and a payout ratio near 26%. A recent dividend-focused article also recognized Aflac’s long record of annual increases. Safe High-Yield Dividend Stocks
• Neutral Sentiment: The Ben Affleck billboard activity appears to be a planned publicity campaign rather than actual vandalism. It may generate short-term brand engagement, but no revenue, earnings guidance or other measurable financial benefit was announced. Ben Affleck Aflac Advertising Campaign
• Negative Sentiment: Japan Post Holdings, a major Aflac shareholder, sold 13,500 shares for approximately $1.58 million on September 2 and has reported several similar sales in recent weeks. The latest transaction reduced its stake by only about 0.03% and was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, limiting its significance, but the repeated selling may create a modest supply overhang. Aflac Major Shareholder SEC Filing

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $138.00 price target (up from $130.00) on shares of Aflac in a report on Monday, August 10th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $99.00 price target (up from $98.00) on shares of Aflac in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Aflac from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $116.62.

Aflac Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $117.09 on Monday. Aflac Incorporated has a 12-month low of $104.66 and a 12-month high of $130.22. The stock has a market cap of $58.70 billion, a PE ratio of 12.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a 50 day moving average of $121.49 and a 200-day moving average of $116.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.01). Aflac had a return on equity of 13.27% and a net margin of 26.91%.The firm had revenue of $4.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were given a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 26.15%.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.