Creative Planning Sells 1,204 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Creative Planning lessened its stake in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 220,456 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,204 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Aflac were worth $24,647,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Aflac by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $419,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,512,000. Unison Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Aflac by 0.6% during the first quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 45,105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,873,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA bought a new stake in Aflac during the first quarter worth $204,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in Aflac in the first quarter worth $100,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

In other news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.94, for a total transaction of $197,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,796,552.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on AFL. Citigroup lifted their target price on Aflac from $84.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Aflac from $84.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Aflac from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Aflac from $84.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on Aflac in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $96.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.53.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL stock opened at $114.50 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $109.40 and a 200-day moving average of $95.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.95. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $75.07 and a 12 month high of $115.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 28.35% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Aflac’s payout ratio is 22.08%.

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.