Board of the Pension Protection Fund Buys Shares of 10,300 MetLife, Inc. $MET

Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 10,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $828,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its position in MetLife by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 13,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,096,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in MetLife by 0.9% during the first quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 14,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,145,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC raised its holdings in MetLife by 2.2% during the second quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 6,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Glenview Trust co raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 38,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,078,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 6,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $519,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MET opened at $79.88 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.12 billion, a PE ratio of 13.54, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The company’s 50-day moving average is $79.68 and its 200-day moving average is $78.12.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.32 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.58 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.28 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler lowered MetLife from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.18.

About MetLife

MetLife, Inc, a financial services company, provides insurance, annuities, employee benefits, and asset management services worldwide. It operates through six segments: Retirement and Income Solutions; Group Benefits; Asia; Latin America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and MetLife Holdings. The company offers life, dental, group short-and long-term disability, individual disability, pet insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, vision, and accident and health coverages, as well as prepaid legal plans; administrative services-only arrangements to employers; and general and separate account, and synthetic guaranteed interest contracts, as well as private floating rate funding agreements.