Allianz Asset Management GmbH Trims Stock Holdings in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Allianz Asset Management GmbH lowered its stake in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 637,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 68,043 shares during the quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $19,870,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Manulife Financial by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,336,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,440,795,000 after acquiring an additional 2,003,226 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 25,155,652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $803,975,000 after purchasing an additional 730,187 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $632,238,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 19.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,008,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $453,798,000 after buying an additional 2,276,251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 12,015,008 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $384,409,000 after buying an additional 567,834 shares during the period. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Manulife Financial Trading Up 1.9%

NYSE:MFC opened at $38.08 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $36.64 and its 200 day moving average is $33.50. Manulife Financial Corp has a 12 month low of $25.92 and a 12 month high of $38.72. The company has a market capitalization of $63.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.92 and a beta of 0.83.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $12.90 billion during the quarter. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.11% and a net margin of 9.81%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 26th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 26th. This is a positive change from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is currently 55.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MFC shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Manulife Financial from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Weiss Ratings raised Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group started coverage on Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised shares of Manulife Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Manulife Financial currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.50.

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.