Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) Share Price Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of C$42.79 and traded as high as C$45.73. Manulife Financial shares last traded at C$45.67, with a volume of 7,152,770 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MFC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Manulife Financial from C$51.00 to C$49.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Manulife Financial from C$47.00 to C$48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. National Bankshares increased their price target on shares of Manulife Financial from C$47.00 to C$52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Desjardins increased their price target on shares of Manulife Financial from C$48.00 to C$52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Manulife Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Manulife Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$49.44.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of C$43.45 and a 200 day moving average of C$42.79. The stock has a market cap of C$77.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.93.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 19th were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Paul Lorentz sold 178,425 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$41.90, for a total value of C$7,476,007.50. Following the transaction, the insider owned 79,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$3,349,067. This represents a 69.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Insiders sold a total of 179,582 shares of company stock valued at $7,516,321 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Manulife Financial

Manulife provides life insurance and wealth management products and services to individuals and group customers in Canada, the United States, and Asia. Manulife is one of Canada’s Big Three Life Insurance companies (the other two are Sun Life and Great West Life). As of Dec. 31, 2021, Manulife reported assets under management or administration of about CAD $1.4 trillion.