Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) Stock

Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) had its price target hoisted by analysts at Barclays from C$49.00 to C$52.00 in a report issued on Friday,BayStreet.CA reports. Barclays‘s price objective points to a potential downside of 0.29% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. CIBC upgraded Manulife Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from C$50.00 to C$58.00 in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group upgraded shares of Manulife Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Desjardins set a C$55.00 price target on shares of Manulife Financial and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. TD Securities boosted their price objective on Manulife Financial from C$54.00 to C$57.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, National Bankshares upped their price objective on shares of Manulife Financial from C$47.00 to C$52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of C$52.75.

Manulife Financial Price Performance

TSE MFC traded up C$0.67 during trading hours on Friday, hitting C$52.15. The company had a trading volume of 1,031,822 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,744,821. Manulife Financial has a fifty-two week low of C$36.93 and a fifty-two week high of C$52.25. The company has a market capitalization of C$87.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50 day moving average is C$48.89 and its 200 day moving average is C$45.10.

Manulife Financial (TSE:MFC) (NYSE:MFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The financial services provider reported C$1.16 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$26.23 billion for the quarter. Manulife Financial had a return on equity of 11.75% and a net margin of 12.52%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Manulife Financial will post 3.6104452 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Manulife Financial

In other Manulife Financial news, insider Shamus Edward Weiland sold 88,500 shares of Manulife Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$48.95, for a total transaction of C$4,332,075.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 53,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$2,618,580.25. The trade was a 62.33% decrease in their position. Also, insider Rahim Hirji sold 25,048 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$48.25, for a total transaction of C$1,208,566.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 31,315 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$1,510,948.75. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Manulife Financial

Manulife provides life insurance and wealth management products and services to individuals and group customers in Canada, the United States, and Asia. Manulife is one of Canada’s Big Three Life Insurance companies (the other two are Sun Life and Great West Life). As of Dec. 31, 2021, Manulife reported assets under management or administration of about CAD $1.4 trillion.