OLD National Bancorp IN Boosts Stock Holdings in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its position in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $330,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ascent Group LLC lifted its stake in Manulife Financial by 9.4% in the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 9,564 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Manulife Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $91,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management purchased a new position in Manulife Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $323,000. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in Manulife Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $724,000. Finally, Gold Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Manulife Financial by 1.8% in the second quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 194,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,229,000 after purchasing an additional 3,353 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MFC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $47.00 price objective on Manulife Financial in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from $51.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Saturday, September 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Manulife Financial currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $48.00.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Shares of MFC stock opened at $32.14 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.35, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.98. Manulife Financial Corp has a 1 year low of $25.92 and a 1 year high of $33.07. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.83.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.71 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $11.30 billion during the quarter. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 15.77% and a net margin of 10.46%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 EPS for the current year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a $0.3199 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. This is an increase from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is currently 56.70%.

Manulife Financial Profile

Manulife Financial Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial products and services in the United States, Canada, Asia, and internationally. The company operates through Wealth and Asset Management Businesses; Insurance and Annuity Products; and Corporate and Other segments. The Wealth and Asset Management Businesses segment offers investment advice and solutions to retirement, retail, and institutional clients through multiple distribution channels, including agents and brokers affiliated with the company, independent securities brokerage firms and financial advisors pension plan consultants, and banks.