Ossiam Raises Stock Holdings in Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC)

Ossiam grew its stake in Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 29.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 166,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 37,967 shares during the quarter. Ossiam’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $3,700,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MFC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $473,568,000. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Manulife Financial by 26.5% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 37,066,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $823,074,000 after acquiring an additional 7,766,870 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Manulife Financial by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 20,710,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $459,108,000 after acquiring an additional 6,663,997 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Manulife Financial by 694.2% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,984,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,139,000 after acquiring an additional 3,482,367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $46,628,000. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Manulife Financial Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE MFC traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $25.85. 1,434,845 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,066,287. Manulife Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $17.07 and a 1-year high of $26.81. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.16. The company has a market cap of $46.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.09.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.04. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 9.28%. The firm had revenue of $9.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.85 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Manulife Financial Co. will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.49%. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on MFC shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Desjardins upgraded Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. National Bank Financial upgraded Manulife Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Manulife Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $31.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.33.

Manulife Financial Company Profile

Manulife Financial Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial products and services in the United States, Canada, Asia, and internationally. The company operates through Wealth and Asset Management Businesses; Insurance and Annuity Products; and Corporate and Other segments. The Wealth and Asset Management Businesses segment offers investment advice and solutions to retirement, retail, and institutional clients through multiple distribution channels, including agents and brokers affiliated with the company, independent securities brokerage firms and financial advisors pension plan consultants, and banks.