GAMMA Investing LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated $AFL

GAMMA Investing LLC reduced its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 2.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 265 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $1,399,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. NorthRock Partners LLC boosted its position in Aflac by 1.5% during the first quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $725,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aflac by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 6,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $711,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Optas LLC grew its stake in Aflac by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Optas LLC now owns 2,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $328,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apexium Financial LP raised its holdings in Aflac by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 3,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AFL shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Aflac from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Barclays set a $98.00 target price on Aflac and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Aflac from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Aflac from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.15.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In other news, Director Joseph L. Moskowitz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $102,570.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 25,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,575,019.85. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aflac Stock Performance

NYSE:AFL opened at $107.45 on Tuesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $96.95 and a 52-week high of $115.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.47 billion, a PE ratio of 24.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.08% and a net margin of 15.32%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. Aflac’s payout ratio is presently 52.61%.

Aflac announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.