Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Lowers Stock Position in Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lessened its stake in Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 737,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 43,034 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $22,654,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MFC. TD Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 34,803,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,068,654,000 after acquiring an additional 228,863 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Manulife Financial by 13.5% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 28,063,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $829,374,000 after purchasing an additional 3,329,892 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Manulife Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $654,751,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Manulife Financial by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 11,334,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $347,757,000 after buying an additional 190,738 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Manulife Financial by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,273,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $247,473,000 after buying an additional 616,517 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MFC. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $45.50.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

Shares of Manulife Financial stock opened at $31.17 on Tuesday. Manulife Financial Co. has a one year low of $22.61 and a one year high of $33.07. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.05.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $9.31 billion during the quarter. Manulife Financial had a net margin of 10.08% and a return on equity of 15.98%. Sell-side analysts expect that Manulife Financial Co. will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.3094 per share. This is a positive change from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Manulife Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.45%.

About Manulife Financial

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.