The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Has $50.32 Million Stake in MetLife, Inc. $MET

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 7.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 711,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 48,506 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in MetLife were worth $50,317,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MET. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $639,986,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in MetLife by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,555,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,727,518,000 after buying an additional 7,805,814 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,883,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $938,071,000 after acquiring an additional 2,211,315 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in MetLife by 133.5% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,098,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $219,136,000 after acquiring an additional 1,771,689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in MetLife by 105.3% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,305,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $271,424,000 after acquiring an additional 1,695,563 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MET has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Evercore set a $96.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.50.

MetLife Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $97.17 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.33 and a 1 year high of $97.80. The company has a market capitalization of $62.52 billion, a PE ratio of 18.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $88.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $80.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $14.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 22.60% and a net margin of 4.66%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.96 EPS. Analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.89 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be given a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 4th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. MetLife’s 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.