Janus Henderson Group PLC Sells 3,844,447 Shares of Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Janus Henderson Group PLC cut its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 95.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 201,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,844,447 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $6,895,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MFC. Hoge Financial Services LLC boosted its position in Manulife Financial by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Hoge Financial Services LLC now owns 31,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,160,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 3.3% in the first quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 8,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 59,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,143,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. raised its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 1.1% in the first quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 27,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $954,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the period. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $582,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MFC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Manulife Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

MFC opened at $44.52 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $41.27 and a 200-day moving average of $38.37. The company has a market capitalization of $73.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.67 and a beta of 0.84. Manulife Financial Corp has a fifty-two week low of $29.70 and a fifty-two week high of $44.89.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.01. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 10.19% and a return on equity of 16.58%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. Manulife Financial’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is currently 56.75%.

Manulife Financial Company 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.