Rahim Hirji Sells 17,849 Shares of Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC) Stock

Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) Senior Officer Rahim Hirji sold 17,849 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$44.22, for a total value of C$789,272.07.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

TSE MFC opened at C$44.77 on Friday. Manulife Financial Co. has a twelve month low of C$32.87 and a twelve month high of C$46.42. The stock has a market cap of C$78.53 billion, a PE ratio of 13.93, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of C$42.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$43.27.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is presently 49.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on MFC shares. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from C$53.00 to C$50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Manulife Financial from C$49.00 to C$45.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. National Bankshares dropped their price objective on Manulife Financial from C$50.00 to C$49.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Manulife Financial from C$51.00 to C$46.00 in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a C$51.00 target price on Manulife Financial and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$48.00.

About Manulife Financial

Manulife provides life insurance and wealth management products and services to individuals and group customers in Canada, the United States, and Asia. Manulife is one of Canada’s Big Three Life Insurance companies (the other two are Sun Life and Great West Life). As of Dec. 31, 2021, Manulife reported assets under management or administration of about CAD $1.4 trillion.