Axa S.A. Grows Stock Holdings in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF)

AXA S.A. grew its stake in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF - Free Report) TSE: SLF by 67.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 321,184 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 129,581 shares during the quarter. AXA S.A. owned 0.05% of Sun Life Financial worth $19,059,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SLF has been the topic of several recent research reports. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Sun Life Financial from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Sun Life Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cormark upgraded Sun Life Financial from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Sun Life Financial in a 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Sun Life Financial Stock Up 3.5 %

SLF stock traded up $2.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $62.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 938,072 shares, compared to its average volume of 666,411. The company's fifty day moving average is $56.94 and its 200-day moving average is $58.03. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.41 and a 1 year high of $63.34. The company has a market capitalization of $35.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF - Get Free Report) TSE: SLF last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.44 billion. Sun Life Financial had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 8.08%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be paid a $0.6332 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $2.53 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.08%. This is a boost from Sun Life Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Sun Life Financial's payout ratio is presently 60.16%.

Sun Life Financial 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.