Bessemer Group Inc. Purchases 996,656 Shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC)

Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC - Free Report) TSE: MFC by 1,113.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,086,145 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 996,656 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. owned about 0.06% of Manulife Financial worth $33,878,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,393 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 2,376 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 73,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,245,000 after buying an additional 7,600 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $138,000. Addison Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 45.9% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 449 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,809,774 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $55,578,000 after acquiring an additional 81,799 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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 report on Monday, May 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Manulife Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $45.67.

Manulife Financial Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:MFC opened at $31.30 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.47. Manulife Financial Corp has a 12-month low of $23.30 and a 12-month high of $33.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.39, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.01.

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 company had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 15.84% and a net margin of 9.58%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 EPS for the current year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were issued a $0.3194 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. This is a boost from Manulife Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.08%. Manulife Financial's payout ratio is 67.02%.

About Manulife Financial

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.