Manulife Financial Corp $MFC Shares Sold by Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC trimmed its holdings in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 29.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 101,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 41,656 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $3,177,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AGF Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 24.1% during the third quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 4,163,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,877,000 after buying an additional 809,024 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 795,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,477,000 after acquiring an additional 98,489 shares during the last quarter. Arjuna Capital bought a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $1,713,000. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 8.2% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 48,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,516,000 after purchasing an additional 3,677 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Global Investments acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the third quarter worth $2,065,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on MFC shares. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Cibc Captl Mkts raised Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. CIBC raised Manulife Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Shares of Manulife Financial stock opened at $37.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $62.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.62 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.45. Manulife Financial Corp has a 52-week low of $25.92 and a 52-week high of $38.72.

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

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 26th were given a $0.44 dividend. This is an increase from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 26th. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is presently 55.56%.

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.