MetLife, Inc. $MET Shares Bought by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,489,588 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 424,773 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in MetLife were worth $616,896,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in MetLife during the first quarter worth approximately $307,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in MetLife by 187.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,680,000 after buying an additional 21,771 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the second quarter valued at $404,000. Finally, Burney Co. lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Burney Co. now owns 69,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,555,000 after acquiring an additional 908 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded MetLife from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Mizuho set a $100.00 price target on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on MetLife from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Barclays set a $90.00 target price on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.18.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET opened at $72.62 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.35 billion, a PE ratio of 15.45, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $77.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.84. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.21 and a 52 week high of $85.00.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $52.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.08 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.30%.

MetLife 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.