Lido Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC)

Lido Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 199.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 37,732 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,123 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $1,159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. FIL Ltd boosted its position in Manulife Financial by 21.7% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 39,610,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,216,880,000 after purchasing an additional 7,053,066 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 34,803,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,068,654,000 after buying an additional 228,863 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Manulife Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $654,751,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in Manulife Financial by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 11,334,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $347,757,000 after acquiring an additional 190,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Manulife Financial by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,650,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,291,000 after acquiring an additional 2,377,338 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on MFC shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Manulife Financial from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.50.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Shares of MFC stock opened at $31.56 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $29.74 and a 200 day moving average of $30.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.89. Manulife Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $23.30 and a 1 year high of $33.07.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $9.31 billion for the quarter. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 10.08% and a return on equity of 15.98%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Manulife Financial Co. will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.3094 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. This is a positive change from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.45%.

About Manulife Financial

Manulife Financial Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial products and services in the United States, Canada, Asia, and internationally. The company operates through Wealth and Asset Management Businesses; Insurance and Annuity Products; and Corporate and Other segments. The Wealth and Asset Management Businesses segment offers investment advice and solutions to retirement, retail, and institutional clients through multiple distribution channels, including agents and brokers affiliated with the company, independent securities brokerage firms and financial advisors pension plan consultants, and banks.