Amundi Reduces Stock Holdings in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Key Points

• Amundi cut its Manulife Financial stake by 7.7% in the first quarter, selling 321,564 shares and retaining 3.87 million shares valued at approximately $136.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 52.56% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a target price of $51.50, despite one recent downgrade to “Strong Sell.”
• Manulife shares opened at $44.44, near their 52-week high, while the company reported quarterly EPS of $0.77—slightly below estimates—and maintained a quarterly dividend of $0.485, representing a 4.4% annualized yield.

Amundi reduced its position in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC - Free Report) TSE: MFC by 7.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,870,403 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 321,564 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned 0.23% of Manulife Financial worth $136,077,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,393 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 2,376 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Manulife Financial by 179.7% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 28,362 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $872,000 after purchasing an additional 18,222 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Manulife Financial by 18.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 56,418 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,757,000 after purchasing an additional 8,900 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Manulife Financial by 13.1% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,843 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc grew its holdings in Manulife Financial by 814.3% during the second quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 6,399,999 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $204,544,000 after purchasing an additional 5,699,999 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on MFC. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Zacks Research cut shares of Manulife Financial from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Manulife Financial from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.50.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MFC opened at $44.44 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $40.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.20. Manulife Financial Corp has a one year low of $29.70 and a one year high of $44.89. The company has a market capitalization of $73.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.63 and a beta of 0.84.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC - Get Free Report) TSE: MFC last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $8.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 10.19% and a return on equity of 16.58%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 19th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. Manulife Financial's payout ratio is 56.75%.

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.

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