86,063 Shares in Manulife Financial Corp $MFC Bought by Vise Technologies Inc.

Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 86,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,486,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Manulife Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Manulife Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Canerector Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 800,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 170,000 shares during the period. Finally, Sfam LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MFC shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Manulife Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings raised Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $59.00.

Manulife Financial Trading Up 0.2%

MFC stock opened at $42.54 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $42.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.90. Manulife Financial Corp has a 12 month low of $29.77 and a 12 month high of $45.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.87 and a beta of 0.84.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 9.99% and a return on equity of 16.68%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be given a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.36%.

Manulife Financial Company Profile

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.