Manulife Financial Corp $MFC Position Decreased by Heathbridge Capital Management Ltd.

Heathbridge Capital Management Ltd. reduced its stake in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 388,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 68,300 shares during the quarter. Manulife Financial makes up approximately 5.5% of Heathbridge Capital Management Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Heathbridge Capital Management Ltd.’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $16,551,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. First Nebraska Trust Co purchased a new position in Manulife Financial during the third quarter worth about $466,000. Greenleaf Trust boosted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 10,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 914 shares during the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 95,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,068,000 after buying an additional 9,441 shares during the period. Cidel Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 914,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,063,000 after buying an additional 86,954 shares during the period. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $208,000. 52.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Scotiabank cut Manulife Financial from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research raised Manulife Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Manulife Financial from a “buy (a)” rating to a “buy (a+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.75.

Manulife Financial Stock Up 0.1%

MFC opened at $44.82 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.04. Manulife Financial Corp has a 52 week low of $32.55 and a 52 week high of $45.68. The firm has a market cap of $74.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.73 and a beta of 0.86.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.28 billion. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 9.99%. Manulife Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Company Profile

Manulife Financial Corporation is a Canadian financial services company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1887 as The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company, Manulife has grown into a diversified provider of insurance, wealth and asset management, and retirement solutions. Its common shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MFC.

Manulife offers life, health, and property and casualty insurance, along with retirement products, investment solutions, financial advice, and institutional asset management services.