Korea Investment CORP Takes $69.21 Million Position in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Korea Investment CORP acquired a new position in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,707,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $69,212,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Manulife Financial by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 2,376 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Manulife Financial by 179.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 28,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $872,000 after acquiring an additional 18,222 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 18.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 56,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,757,000 after purchasing an additional 8,900 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 13.1% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 814.3% during the second quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 6,399,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $204,544,000 after purchasing an additional 5,699,999 shares during the period. 52.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research cut shares of Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.00.

Manulife Financial Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of MFC stock opened at $42.54 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.90. Manulife Financial Corp has a fifty-two week low of $29.77 and a fifty-two week high of $45.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.87 and a beta of 0.84.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. Manulife Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be paid a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is currently 53.36%.

Manulife Financial 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.