Legal & General Group Plc Has $347.12 Million Stake in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,214,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 273,555 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.64% of MetLife worth $347,118,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pinkerton Wealth LLC raised its position in MetLife by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Pinkerton Wealth LLC now owns 66,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,502,000 after purchasing an additional 5,447 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its position in MetLife by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 29,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,462,000 after buying an additional 1,159 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,253,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $103,194,000 after buying an additional 106,538 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG raised its position in shares of MetLife by 39.9% during the third quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 63,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,214,000 after acquiring an additional 18,042 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 19.7% during the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 47,631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,909,000 after acquiring an additional 7,837 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Price Performance

MetLife stock opened at $69.96 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.88, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50-day moving average of $76.65 and a 200-day moving average of $78.52. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $85.00.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 21.81%. The business had revenue of $52.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.43 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.08 EPS. MetLife’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd were issued a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Evercore set a $95.00 target price on shares of MetLife in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.67.

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.