Manulife Financial Corp $MFC Shares Bought by Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 414,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,200 shares during the quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $12,918,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Manulife Financial by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 2,376 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 179.7% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 28,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $872,000 after buying an additional 18,222 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 56,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,757,000 after buying an additional 8,900 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Manulife Financial by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $609,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MFC shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $51.00 target price on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Monday, December 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MFC opened at $35.77 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.11 and a beta of 0.83. Manulife Financial Corp has a one year low of $25.92 and a one year high of $38.72. The company’s fifty day moving average is $36.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.68.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $12.90 billion during the quarter. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.44%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.56%.

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.