Forsta AP Fonden Purchases 57,100 Shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC)

Forsta AP Fonden grew its position in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 10.6% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 594,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 57,100 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $18,522,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MFC. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 37,093,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,155,639,000 after purchasing an additional 2,289,205 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 42.1% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 7,427,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $227,895,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200,000 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 871.5% during the 1st quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,023,966 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,057,000 after purchasing an additional 1,815,642 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 1,113.7% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,086,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,878,000 after purchasing an additional 996,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 13,990,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $436,007,000 after purchasing an additional 937,794 shares during the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

MFC opened at $30.11 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.55. Manulife Financial Corp has a 1 year low of $24.77 and a 1 year high of $33.07. The firm has a market cap of $51.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.01.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 15.77% and a net margin of 10.46%. The business had revenue of $11.30 billion during the quarter. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 EPS for the current year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be issued a $0.3199 dividend. This is an increase from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on MFC. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Manulife Financial from $51.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley set a $46.00 price target on Manulife Financial in a research report on Monday, May 19th.

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.