Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) Shares Pass Above 200 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Shares of Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$43.33 and traded as high as C$44.00. Manulife Financial shares last traded at C$43.92, with a volume of 16,224,474 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. CIBC reduced their price objective on Manulife Financial from C$48.00 to C$46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. National Bankshares dropped their target price on Manulife Financial from C$50.00 to C$49.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Royal Bank of Canada set a C$51.00 price target on Manulife Financial and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays decreased their price target on Manulife Financial from C$49.00 to C$45.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Manulife Financial from C$51.00 to C$46.00 in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$48.00.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of C$77.04 billion, a PE ratio of 13.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of C$42.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$43.33.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 19th will be given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.79%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Senior Officer Trevor Kreel sold 3,636 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$44.22, for a total transaction of C$160,781.74. Also, Director Ka Ming (Kenneth) Dai sold 1,073 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$42.96, for a total transaction of C$46,091.79. Insiders have sold a total of 65,289 shares of company stock worth $2,889,176 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Manulife Financial Company Profile

Manulife provides life insurance and wealth management products and services to individuals and group customers in Canada, the United States, and Asia. Manulife is one of Canada’s Big Three Life Insurance companies (the other two are Sun Life and Great West Life). As of Dec. 31, 2021, Manulife reported assets under management or administration of about CAD $1.4 trillion.