Mufg Securities Canada LTD. Sells 126,376 Shares of Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

Key Points

• MUFG Securities Canada reduced its Manulife Financial stake by 5.1%, selling 126,376 shares and retaining 2.36 million shares valued at approximately $95.6 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 52.56% of MFC.
• Manulife reported quarterly EPS of $0.79, slightly above analyst expectations, while revenue rose 7.3% year over year. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.485 per share, representing a 4.6% annualized yield.
• MFC shares opened at $42.40, compared with a 12-month range of $30.20 to $45.33. Analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating with a $59.00 price target, despite one recent downgrade to “Strong Sell.”

Mufg Securities Canada LTD. reduced its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC - Free Report) TSE: MFC by 5.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,360,746 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 126,376 shares during the period. Manulife Financial accounts for approximately 2.5% of Mufg Securities Canada LTD.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. owned approximately 0.14% of Manulife Financial worth $95,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Manulife Financial by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,393 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 2,376 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 179.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 28,362 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $872,000 after buying an additional 18,222 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 56,418 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,757,000 after acquiring an additional 8,900 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,843 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares during the period. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc boosted its stake in Manulife Financial by 814.3% during the second quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 6,399,999 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $204,544,000 after acquiring an additional 5,699,999 shares in the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Manulife Financial Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:MFC opened at $42.40 on Tuesday. The business's 50 day moving average is $42.76 and its 200 day moving average is $39.12. Manulife Financial Corp has a 12-month low of $30.20 and a 12-month high of $45.33. The stock has a market cap of $70.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.82 and a beta of 0.84.

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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.01. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 9.99%.The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. The business's revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. Manulife Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on MFC. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research lowered Manulife Financial from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (a)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Manulife Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $59.00.

About Manulife Financial

Manulife Financial Corporation is a multinational insurance and financial services company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in the late 19th century as The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company, Manulife provides a broad range of financial products and services to individual and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life and health insurance, retirement and pension solutions, wealth and asset management, and group benefits.

In wealth and asset management, Manulife operates through Manulife Investment Management and offers mutual funds, segregated funds, institutional asset management, and retirement plan solutions.

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