Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Acquires 3,724,519 Shares of Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 931.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,124,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,724,519 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $149,778,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Hoge Financial Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Hoge Financial Services LLC now owns 31,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,160,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 14,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $523,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 59,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,143,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $582,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 27,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $987,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MFC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Trading Up 1.1%

Manulife Financial stock opened at $40.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $67.16 billion, a PE ratio of 15.97 and a beta of 0.84. Manulife Financial Corp has a 12 month low of $29.70 and a 12 month high of $40.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $38.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.76.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $8.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 10.19% and a return on equity of 16.58%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.35%.

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.