Aurora Private Wealth Inc. Purchases Shares of 20,061 Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC)

Aurora Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC - Free Report) TSE: MFC in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 20,061 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $625,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MFC. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $654,751,000. FIL Ltd grew its stake in Manulife Financial by 21.7% during the fourth 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Manulife Financial by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,650,598 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $333,291,000 after purchasing an additional 2,377,338 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Manulife Financial by 42.1% in the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 7,427,745 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $227,895,000 after buying an additional 2,200,000 shares during the period. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 216.0% during the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,545,393 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $78,110,000 after buying an additional 1,739,853 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.56% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

Shares of MFC stock traded down $1.25 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $30.63. 1,920,284 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,174,824. The firm has a market cap of $52.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.99. Manulife Financial Corp has a fifty-two week low of $23.30 and a fifty-two week high of $33.07. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.51.

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

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were paid a dividend of $0.3194 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. This is a positive change from Manulife Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Manulife Financial's payout ratio is 67.02%.

Manulife Financial Company 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.