Manulife Financial Corp $MFC Shares Sold by AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc reduced its position in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 33.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 97,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 50,131 shares during the quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $3,350,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter worth $8,386,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in Manulife Financial by 59.8% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 23,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $836,000 after buying an additional 8,622 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors boosted its stake in Manulife Financial by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 22,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $831,000 after buying an additional 2,593 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Manulife Financial by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 112,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,077,000 after acquiring an additional 1,079 shares during the period. Finally, Pure Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $232,000. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Manulife Financial Stock Up 0.1%

MFC opened at $40.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $67.86 billion, a PE ratio of 16.13 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.96. Manulife Financial Corp has a fifty-two week low of $29.70 and a fifty-two week high of $41.43.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $8.89 billion during 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were given a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MFC. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Manulife Financial currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $51.50.

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.