First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Purchases 697 Shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its position in Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) by 9.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 697 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Sun Life Financial were worth $401,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 62,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,052,000 after purchasing an additional 4,963 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in Sun Life Financial by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 14,368 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $701,000 after buying an additional 1,713 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in Sun Life Financial by 30.3% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 34,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,700,000 after acquiring an additional 8,103 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Sun Life Financial by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 790,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,577,000 after acquiring an additional 35,865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Sun Life Financial by 21.8% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $584,000 after acquiring an additional 2,140 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Sun Life Financial in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock.

Sun Life Financial Stock Performance

Sun Life Financial stock opened at $53.15 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $30.96 billion, a PE ratio of 13.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $53.14 and a 200 day moving average of $51.52. Sun Life Financial Inc. has a one year low of $44.57 and a one year high of $55.46.

Sun Life Financial (NYSE:SLF) (TSE:SLF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $13.73 billion for the quarter. Sun Life Financial had a net margin of 7.79% and a return on equity of 17.30%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Sun Life Financial Inc. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Life Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.581 per share. This is an increase from Sun Life Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.37%. Sun Life Financial’s payout ratio is presently 59.79%.

Sun Life Financial Company Profile

Sun Life Financial Inc, a financial services company, provides savings, retirement, and pension products worldwide. The company operates in five segments: Asset Management, Canada, U.S., Asia, and Corporate. It offers various insurance products, such as term and permanent life; personal health, which includes prescription drugs, dental, and vision care; critical illness; long-term care; and disability, as well as reinsurance.