Swiss National Bank Has $153.42 Million Stake in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC)

Swiss National Bank lowered its stake in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 3.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,920,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 186,300 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $153,416,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $210,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 1.9% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 19,878 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $619,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 3.0% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 15,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $480,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. Napatree Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 4.7% during the first quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 10,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 34.7% during the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 1,943 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MFC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from $51.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley set a $46.00 price target on Manulife Financial in a research report on Monday, May 19th.

Manulife Financial Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of MFC opened at $30.11 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $31.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.55. Manulife Financial Corp has a twelve month low of $24.77 and a twelve month high of $33.07. The stock has a market cap of $51.14 billion, a PE ratio of 13.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.01.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.71 by ($0.02). Manulife Financial had a net margin of 10.46% and a return on equity of 15.77%. The company had revenue of $11.30 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. Analysts expect that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.3199 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. This is a boost from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is currently 67.02%.

About Manulife Financial

Manulife Financial Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial products and services in the United States, Canada, Asia, and internationally. The company operates through Wealth and Asset Management Businesses; Insurance and Annuity Products; and Corporate and Other segments. The Wealth and Asset Management Businesses segment offers investment advice and solutions to retirement, retail, and institutional clients through multiple distribution channels, including agents and brokers affiliated with the company, independent securities brokerage firms and financial advisors pension plan consultants, and banks.