Manulife Financial Corp $MFC Shares Bought by State of Wyoming

State of Wyoming boosted its position in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 287.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 26,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,900 shares during the quarter. State of Wyoming’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $976,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS Group AG lifted its position in Manulife Financial by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 4,016,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $145,709,000 after acquiring an additional 363,963 shares during the period. OPTIMAS CAPITAL Ltd acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $8,021,000. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Manulife Financial by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 11,541,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $359,662,000 after acquiring an additional 621,093 shares during the period. Sienna Gestion lifted its position in Manulife Financial by 233.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 556,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,804,000 after acquiring an additional 389,500 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz SE acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $879,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings raised Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of MFC stock opened at $38.18 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $63.71 billion, a PE ratio of 15.15 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.52. Manulife Financial Corp has a 52-week low of $29.70 and a 52-week high of $40.40.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $8.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 10.19% and a return on equity of 16.58%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is 56.75%.

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.