MetLife, Inc. $MET Shares Purchased by Tredje AP fonden

Tredje AP fonden increased its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 485,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 29,677 shares during the quarter. Tredje AP fonden owned about 0.07% of MetLife worth $38,315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,555,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,727,518,000 after acquiring an additional 7,805,814 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 105.3% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,305,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $271,424,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695,563 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in MetLife by 173.4% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,641,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $135,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040,894 shares during the last quarter. Man Group plc increased its position in MetLife by 325.5% during the second quarter. Man Group plc now owns 1,344,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $108,129,000 after purchasing an additional 1,028,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $81,494,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MET shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MetLife from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Barclays upped their price objective on MetLife from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen cut MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on MetLife from $91.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on MetLife from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.15.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET stock opened at $81.40 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $52.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $74.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.55. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $67.33 and a one year high of $83.85.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 22.60% and a net margin of 4.66%.The company had revenue of $14.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.96 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.92 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 45.93%.

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.