The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its stake in Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its latest SEC disclosure. The institutional investor held 1,947,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 88,628 shares during the period. At the end of the quarter, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.11% of Manulife Financial, valued at $59,894,000.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also been actively buying and selling Manulife Financial shares. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC established a new stake in the company during the fourth quarter, valued at $216,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC also initiated a position, worth $26,862,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings by 9.2%, now owning 6,343,892 shares valued at $194,803,000. Hunting Hill Global Capital LLC and State of Tennessee Department of Treasury also acquired new or additional shares during the quarter.
Currently, 52.56% of Manulife Financial’s stock is owned by institutional investors. Several analysts have issued reports on the company, with Royal Bank of Canada recently raising its price target from $49.00 to $51.00 and maintaining an ‘outperform’ rating. Scotiabank also reaffirmed an ‘outperform’ rating. Among analysts, one has rated the stock as ‘hold’, four as ‘buy’, and one as ‘strong buy’, resulting in an average ‘Buy’ rating and a $45.50 average price target according to MarketBeat.com.
On Wednesday, Manulife Financial stock opened at $30.70. The company’s stock has ranged from $23.27 to $33.07 over the past twelve months. Its 50-day moving average is $29.71, and its 200-day moving average is $30.42. Manulife Financial has a market capitalization of $52.75 billion and a PE ratio of 14.83.
The company recently reported quarterly earnings on February 19th, with EPS of $0.74 exceeding analysts’ expectations of $0.67. Manulife Financial also announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.3094, representing a 4.03% yield. The dividend was paid on March 19th to shareholders of record on March 5th.
