Man Group plc Purchases 4,101,390 Shares of Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Man Group plc lifted its position in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 194.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,205,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,101,390 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned about 0.37% of Manulife Financial worth $225,597,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MFC. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new position in Manulife Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Manulife Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Sfam LLC bought a new position in Manulife Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Heritage Wealth Advisors bought a new position in Manulife Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Blueline Advisors LLC bought a new position in Manulife Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on MFC shares. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings raised Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:MFC opened at $40.36 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $38.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.89. Manulife Financial Corp has a 12-month low of $29.70 and a 12-month high of $41.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.02 and a beta of 0.84.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.02). Manulife Financial had a net margin of 10.19% and a return on equity of 16.58%. The company had revenue of $8.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.2 EPS for the current year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.75%.

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.