Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Purchases 17,955 Shares of Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its holdings in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 11.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 180,435 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,955 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $5,620,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Gold Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 2.1% in the third quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 199,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,201,000 after purchasing an additional 4,166 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Manulife Financial during the third quarter valued at about $293,000. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. boosted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. now owns 54,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,701,000 after buying an additional 880 shares during the period. Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $306,000. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 11.7% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $464,000 after buying an additional 1,560 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Trading Down 0.5%

MFC stock opened at $37.42 on Monday. Manulife Financial Corp has a 12-month low of $25.92 and a 12-month high of $37.71. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.76 billion, a PE ratio of 16.63 and a beta of 0.83.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.10. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.11% and a net margin of 9.81%.The business had revenue of $12.90 billion during the quarter. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 26th were given a $0.44 dividend. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is 55.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on MFC. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group started coverage on Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Cibc Captl Mkts upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Manulife Financial from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Manulife Financial has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average 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.