MetLife, Inc. $MET Position Raised by Lido Advisors LLC

Lido Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 94.7% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 56,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 27,272 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $3,966,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MET. Strs Ohio increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 326,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,742,000 after buying an additional 46,469 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 195.8% during the 4th quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 33,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,626,000 after acquiring an additional 22,016 shares in the last quarter. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter worth $81,494,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its position in shares of MetLife by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 714,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,712,000 after purchasing an additional 14,515 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 622,789 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,163,000 after purchasing an additional 13,657 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MET. UBS Group lifted their price target on MetLife from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.50.

MetLife Trading Up 2.3%

MetLife stock opened at $94.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.91 billion, a PE ratio of 18.35, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.78. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.33 and a 52 week high of $94.86.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $14.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 22.60% and a net margin of 4.66%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.96 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.89 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be given a $0.5925 dividend. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.