Bank of America Corp DE Makes New $145.18 Million Investment in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC - Free Report) TSE: MFC in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,583,735 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $145,177,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.22% of Manulife Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MFC. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Manulife Financial by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 38,181,297 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,388,259,000 after acquiring an additional 542,834 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Manulife Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $777,229,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 16,885,459 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $616,479,000 after purchasing an additional 2,145,099 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,808,765 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $623,642,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the second quarter worth about $594,832,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MFC. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. TD Securities restated a "buy" rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Manulife Financial from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (a)" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Manulife Financial has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $59.00.

Manulife Financial Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of MFC stock opened at $44.11 on Friday. Manulife Financial Corp has a twelve month low of $30.52 and a twelve month high of $45.33. The stock has a market cap of $73.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.46 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $43.50 and a 200 day moving average of $39.79.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC - Get Free Report) TSE: MFC last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.01. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.99% and a return on equity of 16.68%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. The business's revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 21st will be issued a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. Manulife Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.49%.

Manulife Financial Company Profile

Manulife Financial Corporation is a Canada-based financial services company that provides insurance, wealth management and asset management products to individuals, businesses and institutional clients. Its offerings include life and health insurance, retirement solutions, investment products, group benefits and long-term care coverage.

Manulife serves customers primarily in Canada, the United States and Asia. In the United States, its insurance and retirement businesses operate under the John Hancock brand.

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