Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Increases Stock Position in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC - Free Report) TSE: MFC by 3.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,380,955 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 239,921 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 0.37% of Manulife Financial worth $198,767,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MFC. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Manulife Financial by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,393 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 2,376 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter worth $16,213,000. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 168,582 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,177,000 after acquiring an additional 1,081 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,037 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $124,000 after acquiring an additional 709 shares during the period. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 19,343 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $594,000 after acquiring an additional 2,451 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Manulife Financial Price Performance

MFC traded down $0.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $30.85. 2,156,311 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,177,900. The business's 50 day moving average price is $31.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.51. The company has a market capitalization of $52.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.99. Manulife Financial Corp has a 1 year low of $23.30 and a 1 year high of $33.07.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC - Get Free Report) TSE: MFC last released its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 15.84% and a net margin of 9.58%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. On average, 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. 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 dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. This is a positive change from Manulife Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Manulife Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 66.49%.

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.