Manulife Financial Corp $MFC Shares Acquired by Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 29.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 128,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,390 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $5,216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MFC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,317,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,843,882,000 after buying an additional 1,606,480 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 38,181,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,388,259,000 after buying an additional 542,834 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in Manulife Financial by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 28,550,943 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,041,431,000 after acquiring an additional 728,643 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $777,229,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Manulife Financial by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 16,885,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $616,479,000 after acquiring an additional 2,145,099 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:MFC opened at $44.45 on Friday. Manulife Financial Corp has a 1 year low of $29.70 and a 1 year high of $45.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $42.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.59 and a beta of 0.84.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.01. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.99% and a return on equity of 16.68%. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 21st will be paid a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research downgraded Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $59.00.

Manulife Financial Company 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.