Axa S.A. Purchases 129,581 Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF)

AXA S.A. lifted its position in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF - Free Report) TSE: SLF by 67.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 321,184 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 129,581 shares during the quarter. AXA S.A. owned approximately 0.05% of Sun Life Financial worth $19,059,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,233,496 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,438,888,000 after acquiring an additional 197,887 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Sun Life Financial by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,454,589 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $562,121,000 after purchasing an additional 198,205 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Sun Life Financial by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,192,059 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $427,712,000 after buying an additional 703,391 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Sun Life Financial in the fourth quarter worth $382,176,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 30.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,467,275 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $210,080,000 after acquiring an additional 812,689 shares in the last quarter. 52.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Cormark upgraded shares of Sun Life Financial from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Sun Life Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. National Bank Financial upgraded Sun Life Financial from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Sun Life Financial Trading Down 0.8 %

SLF traded down $0.51 during trading on Thursday, hitting $59.97. 465,476 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 676,116. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.62, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $56.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.96. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 12-month low of $46.41 and a 12-month high of $62.85.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF - Get Free Report) TSE: SLF last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.30. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 8.08%. On average, equities analysts expect that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.19 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a $0.5876 dividend. This represents a $2.35 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. Sun Life Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 60.16%.

Sun Life Financial Company Profile

Sun Life Financial Inc, a financial services company, provides savings, retirement, and pension products worldwide. The company operates in five segments: Asset Management, Canada, U.S., Asia, and Corporate. It offers various insurance products, such as term and permanent life; personal health, which includes prescription drugs, dental, and vision care; critical illness; long-term care; and disability, as well as reinsurance.