Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA Sells 102,672 Shares of Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA lowered its position in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 19.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 434,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 102,672 shares during the quarter. Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $15,753,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MFC. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Manulife Financial by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 2,376 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Manulife Financial by 179.7% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 28,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $872,000 after acquiring an additional 18,222 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Manulife Financial by 18.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 56,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,757,000 after acquiring an additional 8,900 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Manulife Financial by 13.1% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc boosted its position in Manulife Financial by 814.3% during the second quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 6,399,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $204,544,000 after acquiring an additional 5,699,999 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MFC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Manulife Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MFC opened at $40.01 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.02 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $35.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.75. Manulife Financial Corp has a 1 year low of $29.70 and a 1 year high of $40.09.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $11.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 16.43%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This is an increase from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 25th. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 63.96%.

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.