GAMMA Investing LLC Has $167.24 Million Stock Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL - Free Report) by 12,313.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,504,067 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,491,951 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC owned 0.28% of Aflac worth $167,237,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of Aflac by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 7,643 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $791,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. TKG Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 21,255 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,230,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Aflac by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,960 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $720,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Family Legacy Inc. grew its position in Aflac by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Family Legacy Inc. now owns 2,607 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quotient Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,615 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 37,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now owns 70,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,496,045.28. This represents a 34.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total value of $3,197,456.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. This trade represents a 37.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 71,552 shares of company stock valued at $7,609,382. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aflac Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE:AFL traded down $0.84 on Wednesday, hitting $103.23. 780,623 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,104,494. The company has a market cap of $55.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $105.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $106.09. 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 Incorporated has a 52 week low of $86.46 and a 52 week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. Aflac's quarterly revenue was down 37.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.66 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. Aflac's payout ratio is 36.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. Barclays raised their price objective on Aflac from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered Aflac from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Aflac from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Aflac from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $104.93.

About Aflac

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.