Ieq Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 22,034 Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new position in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 22,034 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $893,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in Manulife Financial by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 38,181,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,388,259,000 after purchasing an additional 542,834 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 28,550,943 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,041,431,000 after buying an additional 728,643 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter worth $777,229,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 16,885,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $616,479,000 after buying an additional 2,145,099 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,808,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $623,642,000 after buying an additional 1,020,490 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Shares of Manulife Financial stock opened at $43.12 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $42.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.06. Manulife Financial Corp has a 1 year low of $30.20 and a 1 year high of $45.33. The stock has a market cap of $71.67 billion, a PE ratio of 16.09 and a beta of 0.84.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.99% and a return on equity of 16.68%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be paid a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MFC has been the topic of several research reports. Zacks Research downgraded Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.00.

About Manulife Financial

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.