AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Cuts Position in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd reduced its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 30.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,196,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,393,826 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd owned 0.19% of Manulife Financial worth $99,577,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Little House Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 37,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,154,000 after acquiring an additional 644 shares in the last quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Manulife Financial by 11.3% in the third quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. now owns 213,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,651,000 after purchasing an additional 21,629 shares during the period. Alaska Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 35.1% during the third quarter. Alaska Wealth Advisors now owns 10,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 2,624 shares in the last quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. boosted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 1.2% in the third quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 651,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,313,000 after buying an additional 7,600 shares during the period. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE MFC opened at $37.77 on Thursday. Manulife Financial Corp has a 12-month low of $25.92 and a 12-month high of $37.85. The company has a market cap of $63.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.78 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.16.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $12.90 billion for the quarter. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.11% and a net margin of 9.81%.During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 26th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is a boost from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 26th. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is presently 55.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 price target on Manulife Financial in a research report on Monday, December 15th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Monday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Finally, CIBC raised shares of Manulife Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have given a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Manulife Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price 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.