Manulife Financial Corp $MFC Shares Acquired by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 38.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,400,904 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,618,035 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 0.56% of Manulife Financial worth $341,065,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,317,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,843,882,000 after buying an additional 1,606,480 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 37,638,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,172,922,000 after buying an additional 2,079,330 shares during the period. Canerector Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 4,445.8% in the 3rd quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 28,184,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $877,932,000 after buying an additional 27,564,000 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 27,822,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $866,649,000 after buying an additional 5,671,639 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $777,229,000. 52.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, February 13th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:MFC opened at $38.75 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $64.66 billion, a PE ratio of 15.38 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $37.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.57. Manulife Financial Corp has a fifty-two week low of $29.70 and a fifty-two week high of $40.40.

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

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is 56.75%.

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.