Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Decreases Position in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its position in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 95.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 65,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,496,666 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $2,042,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Caldwell Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Eastern Bank raised its position in Manulife Financial by 156.1% during the second quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group started coverage on Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, November 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Manulife Financial from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 price target on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Monday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Manulife Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

MFC opened at $36.78 on Wednesday. Manulife Financial Corp has a 1 year low of $25.92 and a 1 year high of $36.86. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.83 billion, a PE ratio of 16.34 and a beta of 0.83.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $12.90 billion during the quarter. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.11% and a net margin of 9.81%.During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 26th. This is an increase from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.56%.

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.