Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Purchases 17,955 Shares of Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its position in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 11.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 180,435 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,955 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $5,620,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Caldwell Trust Co acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Eastern Bank increased its position in Manulife Financial by 156.1% during the second quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Manulife Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Manulife Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MFC opened at $37.42 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $62.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.63 and a beta of 0.83. Manulife Financial Corp has a 52-week low of $25.92 and a 52-week high of $37.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $35.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.82.

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

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 26th were given a $0.44 dividend. This is a boost from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 55.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. CIBC upgraded Manulife Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Cibc Captl Mkts upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 price objective on Manulife Financial in a report on Monday, December 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target 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.