M&G Investment Management Ltd. Sells 170,052 Shares of Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC)

M&G Investment Management Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC - Free Report) TSE: MFC by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,459,681 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 170,052 shares during the quarter. M&G Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.19% of Manulife Financial worth $76,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $1,846,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Manulife Financial by 109.4% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 199,140 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,401,000 after buying an additional 104,026 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Manulife Financial by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 10,465 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Manulife Financial by 8.8% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 5,507,589 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $100,922,000 after buying an additional 446,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Manulife Financial by 44.0% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 86,268 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,577,000 after buying an additional 26,369 shares in the last quarter. 52.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MFC shares. Desjardins upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the company from $31.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Manulife Financial has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $33.33.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

NYSE MFC traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $26.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,785,421 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,226,965. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.23. The stock has a market cap of $46.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.08. Manulife Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $17.07 and a 52 week high of $26.27.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC - Get Free Report) TSE: MFC last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The financial services provider reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $10.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.57 billion. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.28% and a return on equity of 16.27%. On average, research analysts expect that Manulife Financial Co. will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.44%. Manulife Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.19%.

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.