Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Grows Stake in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• Applied Finance Capital Management LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 4.5%, now holding 286,360 shares valued at approximately $23 million.
• Analysts are generally optimistic, with Wells Fargo raising their price target on MetLife from $95 to $96 and several others maintaining or upgrading their ratings.
• MetLife recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5675 per share, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 2.9%.

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC grew its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 4.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 286,360 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,288 shares during the period. MetLife makes up approximately 1.6% of Applied Finance Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC's holdings in MetLife were worth $23,029,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MET. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in MetLife by 9.0% during the 4th 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. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 10.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,162 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $816,000 after acquiring an additional 984 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its holdings in MetLife by 52.1% during the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 9,355 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $751,000 after purchasing an additional 3,204 shares in the last quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 9.5% in the first quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,840 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $469,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its holdings in MetLife by 12.9% in the 1st quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 10,338 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,182 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on MET shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on MetLife from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Piper Sandler lowered shares of MetLife from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MetLife to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.18.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE:MET opened at $77.87 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $80.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.13. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $89.05. The company has a market capitalization of $51.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.86.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.32 by ($0.30). MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The business had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.28 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be paid 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, November 4th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.47%.

MetLife Profile

MetLife, Inc, a financial services company, provides insurance, annuities, employee benefits, and asset management services worldwide. It operates through six segments: Retirement and Income Solutions; Group Benefits; Asia; Latin America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and MetLife Holdings. The company offers life, dental, group short-and long-term disability, individual disability, pet insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, vision, and accident and health coverages, as well as prepaid legal plans; administrative services-only arrangements to employers; and general and separate account, and synthetic guaranteed interest contracts, as well as private floating rate funding agreements.

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