Schroder Investment Management Group Increases Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 466,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,736 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in MetLife were worth $37,524,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Quaker Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in MetLife by 198.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. GFG Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Abound Wealth Management grew its holdings in MetLife by 652.3% in the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the period. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $76.28 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.75. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $88.59.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.64 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%.MetLife’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.95 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 42.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on MET shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Piper Sandler downgraded MetLife from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Barclays boosted their price objective on MetLife from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.60.

MetLife Profile

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.