Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Has $402.97 Million Stock Holdings in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 183.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,702,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,577,711 shares during the quarter. Manulife Financial makes up 0.6% of Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $402,969,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hoge Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Manulife Financial by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Hoge Financial Services LLC now owns 31,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,160,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 14,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $523,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 59,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,143,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. raised its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 1.1% during the first quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 27,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $954,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the period. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $582,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the period. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Zacks Research downgraded Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Manulife Financial stock opened at $43.64 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.33 and a 200-day moving average of $37.95. Manulife Financial Corp has a one year low of $29.70 and a one year high of $43.81. The company has a market cap of $72.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.32 and a beta of 0.84.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $8.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 10.19% and a return on equity of 16.58%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.75%.

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.