GAMMA Investing LLC Takes Position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 2,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Aflac by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,208,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,160,465,000 after purchasing an additional 605,210 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Aflac by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,643,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $740,141,000 after purchasing an additional 794,784 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Aflac by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,295,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $559,953,000 after purchasing an additional 368,704 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,808,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $369,036,000 after acquiring an additional 227,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 2,236,241 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $171,659,000 after acquiring an additional 49,479 shares in the last quarter. 67.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AFL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Aflac from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Aflac from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other Aflac news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares in the company, valued at $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total value of $666,720.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 32,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,735,635.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares in the company, valued at $1,516,390.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 46,493 shares of company stock worth $3,765,706. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Aflac Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE AFL opened at $83.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.06 and a quick ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.91. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $64.10 and a 1-year high of $86.26. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $82.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.71.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $3.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.44 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 24.92%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.