Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV Has $697,000 Stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV decreased its stake in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 525 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV’s holdings in Aflac were worth $697,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. SlateStone Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Aflac by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 17,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,835,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. GWN Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Aflac during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $878,000. Glenview Trust co boosted its stake in Aflac by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 18,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,928,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Patten & Patten Inc. TN boosted its stake in Aflac by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 4,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Aflac by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 5,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,018,701.20. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $5,360,422.98. The trade was a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 55,546 shares of company stock valued at $5,863,616 over the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $107.27 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $105.60 and its 200-day moving average is $107.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.63 billion, a PE ratio of 11.17, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93. Aflac Incorporated has a 52 week low of $79.31 and a 52 week high of $115.50.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 28.76%. Equities research analysts expect that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Aflac from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Aflac in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $111.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aflac currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.36.

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.