Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 34,813 Shares of Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 0.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,561,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,813 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 3.96% of Manulife Financial worth $1,581,509,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 37,066,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $823,074,000 after acquiring an additional 7,766,870 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Manulife Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $473,568,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 47.4% in 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 buying an additional 6,663,997 shares during the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 12,840,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $283,277,000 after buying an additional 169,335 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Manulife Financial by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 11,138,365 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $204,468,000 after buying an additional 446,444 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on MFC. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating for the company. National Bank Financial upgraded Manulife Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.33.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

NYSE MFC opened at $25.55 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $24.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.51. Manulife Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $17.07 and a 52-week high of $26.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.09.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $9.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.85 billion. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 9.28%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Manulife Financial Co. will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 21st. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.44%.

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.