Goodman Advisory Group LLC Purchases Shares of 1,450 Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC)

Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $32,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 109.4% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 199,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,401,000 after acquiring an additional 104,026 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 10,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 5,507,589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,922,000 after acquiring an additional 446,233 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 44.0% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 86,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,577,000 after acquiring an additional 26,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its stake in Manulife Financial by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 5,793,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $128,019,000 after purchasing an additional 582,468 shares during the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Manulife Financial Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE MFC traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $22.78. The stock had a trading volume of 2,203,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,984,334. The company has a market cap of $41.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.80, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.08. The business’s 50 day moving average is $23.97 and its 200-day moving average is $21.37. Manulife Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $17.07 and a 52 week high of $25.14.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $10.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.57 billion. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 10.42% and a return on equity of 15.98%. As a group, analysts expect that Manulife Financial Co. will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.298 per share. This is a boost from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MFC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Desjardins raised shares of Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Manulife Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.33.

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.