Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases Shares of 527,949 Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 527,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $16,213,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in Manulife Financial by 13.5% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 28,063,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $829,374,000 after buying an additional 3,329,892 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Manulife Financial by 8.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,273,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $247,473,000 after buying an additional 616,517 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Manulife Financial by 3.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,186,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $153,455,000 after buying an additional 158,216 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 4,896,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $150,333,000 after acquiring an additional 236,808 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 1.8% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,035,663 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,202,000 after acquiring an additional 36,838 shares during the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $45.50.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

MFC stock opened at $30.14 on Tuesday. Manulife Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $22.61 and a 1 year high of $33.07. The company has a market cap of $51.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.56, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $30.06 and a 200 day moving average of $30.23.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.07. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 10.08% and a return on equity of 15.98%. The company had revenue of $9.31 billion during the quarter. On average, equities research analysts expect that Manulife Financial Co. will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.3094 dividend. This is an increase from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.45%.

Manulife Financial Company 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.