Manulife Financial Corp $MFC Shares Sold by Forsta AP Fonden

Forsta AP Fonden trimmed its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 47.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 405,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 359,800 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $14,751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MFC. UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 4,016,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $145,709,000 after buying an additional 363,963 shares in the last quarter. OPTIMAS CAPITAL Ltd acquired a new position in Manulife Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,021,000. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Manulife Financial by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 11,541,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $359,662,000 after acquiring an additional 621,093 shares in the last quarter. Sienna Gestion boosted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 233.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 556,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,804,000 after acquiring an additional 389,500 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz SE acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $879,000. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Manulife Financial Trading Down 0.2%

Manulife Financial stock opened at $38.22 on Friday. Manulife Financial Corp has a 52 week low of $29.70 and a 52 week high of $40.40. The stock has a market cap of $63.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.16 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $37.38 and a 200-day moving average of $36.42.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its quarterly 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 the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.58% and a net margin of 10.19%.During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is presently 56.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MFC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.50.

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.