MetLife, Inc. $MET Shares Bought by Strategic Blueprint LLC

Strategic Blueprint LLC raised its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 25.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 878 shares during the period. Strategic Blueprint LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $353,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in MetLife by 7.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,488,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,126,734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824,907 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 6.8% in the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 9,144,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $735,412,000 after acquiring an additional 585,671 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 0.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,862,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $711,597,000 after acquiring an additional 36,177 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 3.6% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,406,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $594,410,000 after acquiring an additional 259,993 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 0.8% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,109,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $570,816,000 after acquiring an additional 57,221 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET opened at $78.71 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $52.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.34, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50-day moving average of $80.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.40. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by ($0.30). The business had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.58 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%.The business’s revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.28 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be given 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 yield of 2.9%. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 38.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 11th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.