Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 29.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 128,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,390 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $5,216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $777,229,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 183.7% in the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 11,702,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $402,969,000 after purchasing an additional 7,577,711 shares during the period. MUFG Securities EMEA plc grew its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 814.3% in the second quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 6,399,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $204,544,000 after purchasing an additional 5,699,999 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc grew its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 194.9% in the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 6,205,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $225,597,000 after purchasing an additional 4,101,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Manulife Financial by 1,975.2% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,045,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $147,312,000 after buying an additional 3,850,547 shares during the period. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on MFC. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $59.00.

Manulife Financial Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of MFC opened at $44.45 on Friday. Manulife Financial Corp has a twelve month low of $29.70 and a twelve month high of $45.33. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.59 and a beta of 0.84.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.28 billion. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.99% and a return on equity of 16.68%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.36%.

Manulife Financial Company 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.