Capital World Investors Has $23.78 Million Stake in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Capital World Investors decreased its position in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 86.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 655,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,009,473 shares during the quarter. Capital World Investors’ holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $23,784,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 4,016,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $145,709,000 after acquiring an additional 363,963 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 11,541,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $359,662,000 after acquiring an additional 621,093 shares in the last quarter. Sienna Gestion boosted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 233.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 556,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,804,000 after acquiring an additional 389,500 shares in the last quarter. Allianz SE acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $879,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 5.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,079,330 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of MFC opened at $38.83 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $64.80 billion, a PE ratio of 15.41 and a beta of 0.84. Manulife Financial Corp has a 12 month low of $29.70 and a 12 month high of $40.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $37.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.66.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last announced 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 company had revenue of $8.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.58% and a net margin of 10.19%.During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given 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 5.0%. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on MFC shares. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings raised 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. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $51.50.

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.