FIL Ltd Sells 1,521,247 Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF)

FIL Ltd cut its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF - Free Report) TSE: SLF by 67.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 741,455 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,521,247 shares during the quarter. FIL Ltd owned approximately 0.12% of Sun Life Financial worth $44,025,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 1.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,841,712 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $164,876,000 after buying an additional 34,072 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 34.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,633 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,403,000 after purchasing an additional 6,000 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,192,059 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $427,712,000 after purchasing an additional 703,391 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sun Life Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $878,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Sun Life Financial by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,596,439 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $94,743,000 after purchasing an additional 15,908 shares during the period. 52.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sun Life Financial Trading Up 0.7 %

Sun Life Financial stock traded up $0.38 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $56.92. The company had a trading volume of 80,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 680,111. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.86. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.41 and a fifty-two week high of $62.85. The company has a market cap of $32.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.87.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF - Get Free Report) TSE: SLF last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts forecast that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.19 EPS for the current year.

Sun Life Financial Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a $0.5876 dividend. This represents a $2.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. Sun Life Financial's dividend payout ratio is 60.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SLF shares. National Bank Financial raised Sun Life Financial from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sun Life Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Cormark upgraded Sun Life Financial from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

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.