Amundi Has $181.04 Million Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• Amundi reduced its MetLife stake by 16.4% in the first quarter, selling 503,771 shares and retaining 2.56 million shares valued at approximately $181.04 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 94.99% of MetLife.
• Wall Street remains broadly optimistic, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $100.50. Several firms recently raised their targets to between $103 and $106.
• MetLife reported quarterly EPS of $2.42, beating estimates of $2.27, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5925, equivalent to an annualized yield of about 2.4%.

Amundi cut its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 16.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,559,946 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 503,771 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned 0.40% of MetLife worth $181,039,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in MetLife in the first quarter valued at about $307,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 187.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,378 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,680,000 after acquiring an additional 21,771 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the second quarter worth about $404,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the second quarter worth about $444,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on MET. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on MetLife from $96.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Evercore set a $96.00 price target on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on MetLife from $93.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised MetLife from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $100.50.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET opened at $97.17 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.83, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.78. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.33 and a 12 month high of $97.80. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $14.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 22.60%. The company's revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.96 EPS. Research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be paid a $0.5925 dividend. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 4th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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