Allianz SE Purchases New Holdings in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Allianz SE acquired a new position in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 28,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $879,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Caldwell Trust Co acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new position in Manulife Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Manulife Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC grew its holdings in Manulife Financial by 144.4% during the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 1,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 742 shares in the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MFC. Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 target price on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings cut Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded Manulife Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Stock Down 0.8%

MFC opened at $35.55 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $36.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.13. Manulife Financial Corp has a fifty-two week low of $25.92 and a fifty-two week high of $38.72. The firm has a market cap of $59.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.01 and a beta of 0.83.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $11.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.43% and a net margin of 9.18%.During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be given a $0.485 dividend. This is a boost from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 63.51%.

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.