Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Invests $431,000 in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC - Free Report) TSE: MFC in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 13,820 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $431,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FIL Ltd raised its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 39,610,614 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,216,880,000 after purchasing an additional 7,053,066 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 34,803,859 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,068,654,000 after purchasing an additional 228,863 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 24,614,416 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $755,367,000 after purchasing an additional 230,105 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in Manulife Financial by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,812,909 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $699,948,000 after buying an additional 902,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $654,751,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company's stock.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MFC opened at $30.47 on Monday. Manulife Financial Corp has a fifty-two week low of $23.30 and a fifty-two week high of $33.07. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.51. The firm has a market cap of $52.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.99.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC - Get Free Report) TSE: MFC last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.01). Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 15.84% and a net margin of 9.58%. The business had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were paid a $0.3194 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. This is a boost from Manulife Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Manulife Financial's dividend payout ratio is 67.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Morgan Stanley set a $46.00 target price on Manulife Financial in a research report on Monday, May 19th.

Manulife Financial Profile

Manulife Financial Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial products and services in the United States, Canada, Asia, and internationally. The company operates through Wealth and Asset Management Businesses; Insurance and Annuity Products; and Corporate and Other segments. The Wealth and Asset Management Businesses segment offers investment advice and solutions to retirement, retail, and institutional clients through multiple distribution channels, including agents and brokers affiliated with the company, independent securities brokerage firms and financial advisors pension plan consultants, and banks.

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