Vontobel Holding Ltd. Cuts Stake in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lessened its position in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 255,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 66,000 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $7,949,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Manulife Financial by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 2,376 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 546,409 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,021,000 after buying an additional 18,460 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 1.9% in the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 69,611 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,168,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Manulife Financial by 7.6% during the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 77,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,407,000 after acquiring an additional 5,446 shares during the period. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC grew its holdings in Manulife Financial by 118.7% during the first quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 23,401 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $729,000 after acquiring an additional 12,701 shares during the period. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

MFC stock opened at $36.66 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $34.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.18. The firm has a market cap of $61.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.29 and a beta of 0.83. Manulife Financial Corp has a 1 year low of $25.92 and a 1 year high of $36.93.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $12.90 billion during the quarter. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.11% and a net margin of 9.81%.During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 26th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. This is an increase from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 55.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MFC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, November 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 target price on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $51.50.

Manulife Financial 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.