NewEdge Wealth LLC Acquires Shares of 21,893 Manulife Financial Corp $MFC

NewEdge Wealth LLC bought a new position in Manulife Financial Corp (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 21,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $887,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Canerector Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 27.0% in the first quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 800,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 170,000 shares in the last quarter. Sfam LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA purchased a new position in shares of Manulife Financial during the first quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on MFC. 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 Manulife Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from $55.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Manulife Financial currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.00.

Manulife Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:MFC opened at $42.54 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $42.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.90. Manulife Financial Corp has a 52 week low of $29.77 and a 52 week high of $45.33. The company 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 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. The firm 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Manulife Financial Corp will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Manulife Financial 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.