Barclays PLC Lowers Position in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Barclays PLC trimmed its position in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 14.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 928,267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 159,531 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned 0.06% of Manulife Financial worth $28,916,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Caldwell Trust Co purchased a new position in Manulife Financial in the second quarter worth $27,000. American Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Manulife Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new position in Manulife Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MFC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, November 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Manulife Financial currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

NYSE MFC opened at $33.75 on Wednesday. Manulife Financial Corp has a 52-week low of $25.92 and a 52-week high of $38.72. The company has a fifty day moving average of $36.63 and a 200-day moving average of $34.34. The company has a market capitalization of $56.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.20 and a beta of 0.83.

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

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.7%. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.96%.

Manulife Financial Profile

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.