Manulife Financial Corp $MFC Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its stake in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,277,287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 264,034 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $410,037,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Genus Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Genus Capital Management Inc. now owns 297,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,833,000 after purchasing an additional 58,950 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 14,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $545,000 after purchasing an additional 2,358 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $17,465,000. Finally, Cumberland Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $384,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:MFC opened at $38.56 on Tuesday. Manulife Financial Corp has a one year low of $29.70 and a one year high of $40.40. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.29. The stock has a market cap of $64.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.30 and a beta of 0.87.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.02). Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.58% and a net margin of 10.19%.The business had revenue of $8.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.2 EPS for the current year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is 56.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on MFC. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Manulife Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note 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 restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus 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.