Manulife Financial Corp $MFC Shares Sold by Envestnet Asset Management Inc.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 26.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 720,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 253,611 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $22,431,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AGF Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 24.1% in the third quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 4,163,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $142,877,000 after buying an additional 809,024 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Manulife Financial by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 795,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,477,000 after acquiring an additional 98,489 shares during the last quarter. Arjuna Capital acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,713,000. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 48,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,516,000 after purchasing an additional 3,677 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Global Investments purchased a new position in shares of Manulife Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,065,000. 52.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MFC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 target price on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

Manulife Financial stock opened at $36.74 on Friday. Manulife Financial Corp has a fifty-two week low of $25.92 and a fifty-two week high of $38.72. The company has a market capitalization of $61.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.55 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $36.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.71.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $11.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.43% and a net margin of 9.18%.During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.3%. This is an increase from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 55.56%.

Manulife Financial Company 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.