Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF)

Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,302 shares during the quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Sun Life Financial were worth $1,226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SLF. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Sun Life Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $382,176,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 295.5% during the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,911,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $113,453,000 after acquiring an additional 1,427,815 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 2,071.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,350,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $80,160,000 after acquiring an additional 1,288,545 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 71.9% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,867,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $170,068,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200,000 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 30.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,467,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $210,080,000 after acquiring an additional 812,689 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Sun Life Financial from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com cut Sun Life Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cormark upgraded Sun Life Financial from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, National Bank Financial raised Sun Life Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.00.

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE SLF opened at $62.49 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.11. The firm has a market cap of $35.46 billion, a PE ratio of 16.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a twelve month low of $46.41 and a twelve month high of $63.34.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.44 billion. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 8.08%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be given a $0.6332 dividend. This represents a $2.53 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.05%. This is a positive change from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 28th. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is presently 62.09%.

About Sun Life Financial

Sun Life Financial Inc, a financial services company, provides savings, retirement, and pension products worldwide. The company operates in five segments: Asset Management, Canada, U.S., Asia, and Corporate. It offers various insurance products, such as term and permanent life; personal health, which includes prescription drugs, dental, and vision care; critical illness; long-term care; and disability, as well as reinsurance.