Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) Stock Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Manulife Financial Co. (TSE:MFC - Get Free Report) NYSE: MFC passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$42.65 and traded as high as C$45.36. Manulife Financial shares last traded at C$44.83, with a volume of 2,172,105 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. 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 note on Thursday, August 7th. National Bankshares cut their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from C$48.00 to C$47.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from C$51.00 to C$49.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of C$47.75.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

The company has a market cap of C$75.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.46, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.93. The business's 50-day simple moving average is C$42.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$42.65.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 19th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Manulife Financial's payout ratio is 54.19%.

Insider Activity at Manulife Financial

In other news, insider Paul Lorentz sold 178,425 shares of Manulife Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$41.90, for a total transaction of C$7,476,007.50. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. Insiders have sold 179,582 shares of company stock worth $7,516,321 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.

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.