Manulife Financial Corp $MFC Holdings Lowered by Squarepoint Ops LLC

Squarepoint Ops LLC decreased its stake in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 48.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 23,726 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 22,293 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $758,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Manulife Financial during the second quarter valued at about $632,238,000. MUFG Securities EMEA plc increased its position 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 worth $204,544,000 after acquiring an additional 5,699,999 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 134.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,444,479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $263,046,000 after acquiring an additional 4,840,963 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 19.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,008,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $453,798,000 after acquiring an additional 2,276,251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Manulife Financial by 30.0% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 9,653,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $300,860,000 after purchasing an additional 2,226,152 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MFC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 price target on Manulife Financial in a report on Monday, December 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Manulife Financial from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:MFC opened at $36.52 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.11. Manulife Financial Corp has a 1 year low of $25.92 and a 1 year high of $36.59. The firm has a market cap of $61.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.23 and a beta of 0.83.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $12.90 billion for the quarter. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.11% and a net margin of 9.81%.During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 EPS for the current year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 26th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 26th. This is a boost from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is 55.56%.

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.