Dodge & Cox Acquires 477,783 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• Dodge & Cox increased its MetLife stake by 477,783 shares in Q3 to 53,659,664 shares, owning about 8.14% of MetLife (≈$4.42 billion) while MetLife represents ~2.4% of Dodge & Cox’s portfolio and is its sixth-largest holding.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of Moderate Buy on MetLife with an average price target of $93.67, versus a recent share price around $68, implying significant upside per analyst estimates.
• MetLife beat quarterly EPS estimates ($2.49 vs. $2.34), reported revenue up 27.6% year-over-year, and pays an annualized dividend of $2.27 (≈3.3% yield).

Dodge & Cox increased its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 53,659,664 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 477,783 shares during the period. MetLife accounts for about 2.4% of Dodge & Cox's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Dodge & Cox owned about 8.14% of MetLife worth $4,419,947,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MET. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC purchased a new position in MetLife during the third quarter worth $32,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 95.4% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 422 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 564.1% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 425 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the second quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on MET. Evercore set a $95.00 target price on shares of MetLife in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $88.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho set a $100.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $93.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $93.67.

MetLife Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $68.00 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.47, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.76. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $85.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $52.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.43 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 21.81%. MetLife's revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd were paid a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 3rd. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.30%.

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.

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