Groupama Asset Managment Increases Holdings in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Groupama Asset Managment grew its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 9.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 721,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 62,713 shares during the quarter. Groupama Asset Managment owned about 0.11% of MetLife worth $59,462,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 790.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife in the third quarter valued at $32,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its holdings in MetLife by 95.4% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the period. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in MetLife by 564.1% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MET has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on MetLife from $101.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. UBS Group raised their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Evercore set a $95.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.67.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET opened at $68.56 on Thursday. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $85.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.70 billion, a PE ratio of 14.59, a PEG ratio of 0.62 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.09.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 21.81%. The firm had revenue of $52.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 3rd. MetLife’s payout ratio is 48.30%.

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.