Paul Lorentz Sells 178,425 Shares of Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) Stock

Key Points

• Manulife Financial insider Paul Lorentz sold 178,425 shares at an average price of C$41.90, totaling approximately C$7.48 million, reducing their ownership by 69.06%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.44, scheduled for payment on September 19th, providing an annual yield of 4.1%.
• Analyst ratings for Manulife include a mix of buy and hold ratings, with a latest average target price of C$47.75 following recent adjustments by major banks.

Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC - Get Free Report) NYSE: MFC insider Paul Lorentz sold 178,425 shares of Manulife Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$41.90, for a total value of C$7,476,007.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 79,930 shares in the company, valued at C$3,349,067. The trade was a 69.06% decrease in their position.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Shares of MFC traded up C$0.18 during trading hours on Friday, reaching C$44.14. 1,987,734 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,554,488. The firm has a market capitalization of C$74.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.98. The business's fifty day simple moving average is C$42.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$42.57. Manulife Financial Co. has a twelve month low of C$36.93 and a twelve month high of C$46.42.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 19th will be given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. Manulife Financial's dividend payout ratio is 54.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MFC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Manulife Financial from C$51.00 to C$49.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. National Bankshares dropped their price target on shares of Manulife Financial from C$48.00 to C$47.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from C$46.00 to C$47.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of C$47.75.

Manulife Financial Company Profile

Manulife provides life insurance and wealth management products and services to individuals and group customers in Canada, the United States, and Asia. Manulife is one of Canada's Big Three Life Insurance companies (the other two are Sun Life and Great West Life). As of Dec. 31, 2021, Manulife reported assets under management or administration of about CAD $1.4 trillion.