Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Has $22.46 Million Position in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lowered its stake in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 3.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 654,036 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 24,910 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $22,458,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Manulife Financial by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,317,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,843,882,000 after purchasing an additional 1,606,480 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in Manulife Financial by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 38,181,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,388,259,000 after buying an additional 542,834 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised 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 buying an additional 728,643 shares during the last quarter. Canerector Inc. lifted its stake in Manulife Financial by 4,445.8% in the 3rd quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 28,184,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $877,932,000 after acquiring an additional 27,564,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Manulife Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $777,229,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MFC has been the subject of several research reports. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Stock Up 0.6%

MFC stock opened at $40.73 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $39.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.26. The company has a market cap of $67.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.16 and a beta of 0.84. Manulife Financial Corp has a twelve month low of $29.70 and a twelve month high of $41.43.

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 return on equity of 16.58% and a net margin of 10.19%.The company had revenue of $8.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were given a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio 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.