Applied Finance Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET – Free Report) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 252,383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,788 shares during the period. MetLife comprises 1.4% of Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $19,923,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 110,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,753,000 after buying an additional 7,925 shares during the last quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in MetLife by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 30,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,428,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in MetLife by 200.3% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 120,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,526,000 after purchasing an additional 80,490 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its stake in MetLife by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,391,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $109,832,000 after purchasing an additional 107,640 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in MetLife by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,190,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $93,972,000 after purchasing an additional 13,957 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research firms recently issued reports on MET. UBS Group boosted their price target on MetLife from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on MetLife from $91.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on MetLife from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Evercore set a $96.00 price objective on MetLife in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised MetLife from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.15.
MetLife Price Performance
Shares of MET opened at $79.79 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $67.33 and a 12-month high of $83.85. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $51.34 billion, a PE ratio of 15.46, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.78.
MetLife (NYSE:MET – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 22.60% and a net margin of 4.66%.The firm had revenue of $14.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.96 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
MetLife Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be given a $0.5925 dividend. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.93%.
MetLife Company Profile
MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.
In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.
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