Manulife Financial Corp $MFC Stock Holdings Cut by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 66,838 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,359 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $2,708,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Manulife Financial by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 2,376 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 179.7% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 28,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $872,000 after acquiring an additional 18,222 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Manulife Financial by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 56,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,757,000 after acquiring an additional 8,900 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc boosted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 814.3% during the 2nd quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 6,399,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $204,544,000 after purchasing an additional 5,699,999 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Trading Down 0.1%

MFC stock opened at $43.45 on Monday. Manulife Financial Corp has a one year low of $30.52 and a one year high of $45.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.10 billion, a PE ratio of 16.21 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $43.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.55.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.99% and a return on equity of 16.68%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The company 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 of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on MFC shares. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Weiss Ratings raised Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Manulife Financial has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.00.

About Manulife Financial

Manulife Financial Corporation is a Canada-based financial services company that provides insurance, wealth management and asset management products to individuals, businesses and institutional clients. Its offerings include life and health insurance, retirement solutions, investment products, group benefits and long-term care coverage.

Manulife serves customers primarily in Canada, the United States and Asia. In the United States, its insurance and retirement businesses operate under the John Hancock brand.