Institutional holdings
The 15.0% reduction left Manulife accounting for about 5.5% of Heathbridge's investment portfolio. The filing valued the position at $16,551,000.
Other institutions added to their Manulife holdings during the quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. purchased 86,954 shares, increasing its position by 10.5% to 914,580 shares worth $39,063,000. Vise Technologies Inc. added 9,441 shares, an 11.0% increase, bringing its holding to 95,504 shares valued at $4,068,000.
Greenleaf Trust's position rose 9.8% after it bought 914 shares. It finished the quarter with 10,285 shares worth $438,000. First Nebraska Trust Co established a position valued at about $466,000, while MGO One Seven LLC made a new investment of approximately $208,000.
Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 52.56% of Manulife's stock.
Trading and analyst outlook
Manulife's New York-listed shares, which trade under MFC, opened at $44.82 on Wednesday, November 4. The stock's 50-day simple moving average was $43.68, compared with a 200-day average of $40.04. Over the previous 52 weeks, shares traded between $32.55 and $45.68.
The company had a market value of $74.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.73 and a beta of 0.86.
Recent analyst actions included Scotiabank's October 27 downgrade from "sector outperform" to "sector perform." Earlier, Weiss Ratings raised its assessment from "buy (a)" to "buy (a+)" on October 8, and Zacks Research upgraded Manulife from "strong sell" to "hold" on September 2.
Royal Bank of Canada raised its price target to $67.00 from $55.00 on August 7 and assigned an "outperform" rating. TD Securities reiterated its "buy" rating on August 6.
MarketBeat lists two Strong Buy ratings, three Buy ratings and two Hold ratings for Manulife. Its aggregate rating is "Buy," with a consensus price target of $58.75.
Long-term care reinsurance transaction
Manulife announced on October 1 that it had completed its previously announced agreement to reinsure biometric risk on a block of long-term care policies. The transaction transferred $3.2 billion in IFRS reserves to Munich American Reassurance Company, known as Munich Re Life US, a Munich Re Group subsidiary. It used an 80% quota share and took effect on July 1, 2026.
Headquartered in Toronto, Manulife was founded in 1887 as The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company. Its businesses span insurance, wealth and asset management, and retirement solutions. Offerings include life, health, and property and casualty insurance, as well as investment products, financial advice and institutional asset management services.
At the end of 2025, Manulife reported a workforce of more than 37,000 employees, a network of over 106,000 agents and thousands of distribution partners. It served more than 37 million customers in 25 markets. Its shares trade under "MFC" in Toronto, New York and the Philippines, and under "945" in Hong Kong.
Second-quarter earnings
For the quarter reported on August 5, Manulife posted earnings per share of $0.79, beating the $0.78 analyst consensus by $0.01 but falling from $0.95 a year earlier. Quarterly revenue was $2.22 billion, compared with analysts' expectations of $7.28 billion, and was up 7.3% year over year. Return on equity was 16.68%, and the net margin was 9.99%. Sell-side analysts expect full-year earnings of $2.97 per share.
In its second-quarter 2026 release, Manulife also reported core earnings of $1.9 billion, a 12% year-over-year increase on a constant exchange rate basis, and net income attributable to shareholders of $2.1 billion. Core earnings per share rose 16% to $1.09. The company reported core return on equity of 16.3% and a LICAT ratio of 136%.
The release also showed growth of 21% in APE sales, 16% in new business CSM and 10% in new business value. Manulife said its CSM balance was 20% higher than a year earlier as of the second quarter.
During the first half of 2026, the company returned $2.6 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.
Third-quarter results due November 4
Manulife said in an October 22 announcement that it would publish third-quarter 2026 results after markets close on Wednesday, November 4. A live webcast and conference call are scheduled for Thursday, November 5, at 8:00 a.m. ET, followed by a question-and-answer session with analysts.
