35,979 Shares in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC Purchased by Invst LLC

Invst LLC acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 35,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,458,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MFC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Manulife Financial by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,317,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,843,882,000 after acquiring an additional 1,606,480 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 38,181,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,388,259,000 after purchasing an additional 542,834 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 28,550,943 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,041,431,000 after purchasing an additional 728,643 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Manulife Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $777,229,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 16,885,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $616,479,000 after purchasing an additional 2,145,099 shares during the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MFC opened at $43.18 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.98. The company has a market cap of $71.76 billion, a PE ratio of 16.11 and a beta of 0.84. Manulife Financial Corp has a 12 month low of $29.77 and a 12 month high of $45.33.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.01. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.99% and a return on equity of 16.68%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is 51.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MFC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research downgraded Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.00.

Manulife Financial Company Profile

Manulife Financial Corporation is a multinational insurance and financial services company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in the late 19th century as The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company, Manulife provides a broad range of financial products and services to individual and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life and health insurance, retirement and pension solutions, wealth and asset management, and group benefits.

In wealth and asset management, Manulife operates through Manulife Investment Management and offers mutual funds, segregated funds, institutional asset management, and retirement plan solutions.