Wesbanco Bank Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Manulife Financial Co. (NYSE:MFC – Get Rating) (TSE:MFC) by 37.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,636 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 9,170 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s holdings in Manulife Financial were worth $271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,706,458 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,402,832,000 after buying an additional 2,032,695 shares in the last quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. raised its position in shares of Manulife Financial by 12.5% during the 1st quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 25,986,356 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $554,414,000 after buying an additional 2,891,888 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Manulife Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $362,442,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in Manulife Financial by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 17,265,085 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $368,598,000 after purchasing an additional 934,381 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Manulife Financial by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 15,972,867 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $336,417,000 after purchasing an additional 479,636 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 44.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MFC shares. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Manulife Financial from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 27th. National Bank Financial decreased their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from C$26.00 to C$25.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 19th. Finally, Desjardins lifted their target price on shares of Manulife Financial from C$24.00 to C$25.00 in a research report on Monday, August 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $29.75.

Manulife Financial Stock Down 0.4 %

Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC – Get Rating) (TSE:MFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 10th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.14. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Manulife Financial Co. will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Manulife Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 23rd were issued a $0.258 dividend. This represents a $1.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 22nd. This is a positive change from Manulife Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Manulife Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.66%.

About Manulife Financial

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Manulife Financial Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial products and services in Asia, Canada, the United States, 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 provides mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, group retirement and savings products, and institutional asset management services through agents and brokers affiliated with the company, securities brokerage firms, and financial advisors pension plan consultants and banks.

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