972,000 Shares in Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC) Bought by APG Asset Management N.V.

APG Asset Management N.V. bought a new stake in Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 972,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $28,822,000. APG Asset Management N.V. owned 0.06% of Manulife Financial as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MFC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Manulife Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $654,751,000. FIL Ltd grew its position in Manulife Financial by 21.7% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 39,610,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,216,880,000 after buying an additional 7,053,066 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Manulife Financial by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,650,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,291,000 after buying an additional 2,377,338 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 216.0% during the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,545,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,110,000 after acquiring an additional 1,739,853 shares during the period. Finally, Mufg Securities Canada LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Manulife Financial by 69.5% during the 4th quarter. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. now owns 2,675,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,130,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096,933 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on MFC. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Manulife Financial in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Manulife Financial from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One equities research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Manulife Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.50.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

MFC stock opened at $26.88 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.48. Manulife Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $22.61 and a 12 month high of $33.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.30 billion, a PE ratio of 12.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.89.

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) (TSE:MFC) last announced its 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. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 15.98% and a net margin of 10.08%. The firm had revenue of $9.31 billion for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial Co. will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.3094 dividend. This is an increase from Manulife Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.60%. Manulife Financial’s payout ratio is presently 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.