Intech Investment Management LLC Sells 127,080 Shares of Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Intech Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 29.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 310,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 127,080 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $11,302,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MFC. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 2,376 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 179.7% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 28,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $872,000 after purchasing an additional 18,222 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 18.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 56,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,757,000 after purchasing an additional 8,900 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 13.1% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the period. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 814.3% during the second quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 6,399,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $204,544,000 after purchasing an additional 5,699,999 shares during the period. 52.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MFC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, February 13th. 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MFC opened at $38.22 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.16 and a beta of 0.87. Manulife Financial Corp has a 1 year low of $29.70 and a 1 year high of $40.40.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $8.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 10.19% and a return on equity of 16.58%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.35%.

About Manulife Financial

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.