244,000 Shares in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC Bought by Caldwell Investment Management Ltd.

Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 244,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,876,000. Manulife Financial comprises 6.5% of Caldwell Investment Management Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in Manulife Financial by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 4,016,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $145,709,000 after buying an additional 363,963 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR lifted its position in Manulife Financial by 1,092.1% during the fourth quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 51,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,873,000 after purchasing an additional 47,301 shares during the period. Canerector Inc. boosted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 27.0% in the first quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 800,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 170,000 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 25.7% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 5,645,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $194,191,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 183.7% in the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 11,702,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $402,969,000 after acquiring an additional 7,577,711 shares during the period. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on MFC. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, August 7th. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, August 6th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $59.00.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

NYSE MFC opened at $42.54 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $70.70 billion, a PE ratio of 15.87 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $42.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.90. Manulife Financial Corp has a 52-week low of $29.77 and a 52-week high of $45.33.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.01. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 9.99%.The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is presently 53.36%.

Manulife Financial Profile

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.