LSV Asset Management Has $134.45 Million Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

LSV Asset Management cut its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,632,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 44,800 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in MetLife were worth $134,453,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in MetLife by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the 1st quarter valued at about $307,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 187.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,680,000 after purchasing an additional 21,771 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at about $404,000. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 8,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $701,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Down 2.0%

MET stock opened at $77.28 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $87.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $78.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.80.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.24. MetLife had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 21.81%. The company had revenue of $18.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.08 earnings per share. MetLife’s quarterly revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 3rd. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MET. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Evercore ISI set a $95.00 price target on MetLife in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho set a $100.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.42.

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.