DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Raises Stake in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC - Free Report) TSE: MFC by 1.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,088,842 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 30,994 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned about 0.12% of Manulife Financial worth $63,701,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Manulife Financial Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:MFC traded up $0.25 on Thursday, hitting $30.72. The company had a trading volume of 1,778,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,175,580. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $31.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.51. Manulife Financial Corp has a 1 year low of $23.30 and a 1 year high of $33.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.99.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC - Get Free Report) TSE: MFC last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 EPS 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 company had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Corp will post 2.87 EPS for the current year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st were given a dividend of $0.3194 per share. This is a boost from Manulife Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. Manulife Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.