Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC)

Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC reduced its position in Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 1.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 456 shares during the quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $629,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $473,568,000. FIL Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 750.5% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 9,910,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $218,990,000 after acquiring an additional 8,745,071 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Manulife Financial by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 37,066,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $823,074,000 after purchasing an additional 7,766,870 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Manulife Financial by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 20,710,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $459,108,000 after purchasing an additional 6,663,997 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in Manulife Financial by 694.2% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,984,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,139,000 after purchasing an additional 3,482,367 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. National Bank Financial upgraded Manulife Financial from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.00.

Manulife Financial Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE MFC opened at $26.83 on Friday. Manulife Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $17.07 and a fifty-two week high of $26.97. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $25.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.94. The firm has a market cap of $48.02 billion, a PE ratio of 15.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.09.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $9.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.85 billion. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.28% and a return on equity of 16.27%. On average, analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Co. will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were given a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.32%. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is 67.44%.

Manulife Financial Profile

Manulife Financial Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial products and services in the United States, Canada, Asia, and internationally. The company operates through Wealth and Asset Management Businesses; Insurance and Annuity Products; and Corporate and Other segments. The Wealth and Asset Management Businesses segment offers investment advice and solutions to retirement, retail, and institutional clients through multiple distribution channels, including agents and brokers affiliated with the company, independent securities brokerage firms and financial advisors pension plan consultants, and banks.