AQR Capital Management LLC Increases Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC has increased its stake in MetLife, Inc. by 85%, acquiring an additional 607,333 shares for a total of 1,321,881 shares valued at approximately $104 million.
• Analysts have set a consensus price target of $95.60 for MetLife, with most ratings indicating a "Moderate Buy" sentiment and several institutions affirming "buy" ratings.
• MetLife reported earnings of $2.02 per share for the last quarter, missing expectations and experiencing a 2.7% year-over-year revenue decline.

AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 85.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,321,881 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 607,333 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.20% of MetLife worth $104,270,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. North Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in MetLife in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Motco boosted its holdings in MetLife by 105.5% in the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife in the 1st quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in MetLife by 128.4% in the 1st quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 603 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on MET. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on MetLife from $98.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 18th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $97.00 target price (up from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.60.

MetLife Trading Down 0.4%

MET traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $79.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,414,680 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,369,593. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The stock has a market cap of $52.75 billion, a PE ratio of 13.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.87. The business's 50-day moving average is $78.25 and its 200-day moving average is $78.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $18.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.28 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be given a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. MetLife's payout ratio is presently 38.47%.

MetLife Company 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.