Manulife Financial Corp $MFC Shares Bought by Cresset Asset Management LLC

Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 113.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 98,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 52,323 shares during the quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $3,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 2,376 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 179.7% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 28,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $872,000 after purchasing an additional 18,222 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 18.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 56,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,757,000 after purchasing an additional 8,900 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in 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 valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc increased its stake in Manulife Financial by 814.3% in 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MFC shares. Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Monday, December 15th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Manulife Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Shares of Manulife Financial stock opened at $33.65 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.26. Manulife Financial Corp has a 12 month low of $25.92 and a 12 month high of $38.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.16 and a beta of 0.83.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.04. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.43%. The firm had revenue of $11.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.8%. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.96%.

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.