Jennison Associates LLC Has $244.94 Million Holdings in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• Jennison Associates trimmed its MetLife stake by 1.4% to 3,102,885 shares — worth about $244.94 million — and institutional investors now own roughly 94.99% of the stock.
• Multiple analysts have lowered price targets recently, but the consensus rating remains a Moderate Buy with an average target of $93.38.
• MetLife beat quarterly EPS estimates ($2.49 vs. $2.34) and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.5925 (annualized $2.37), implying a roughly 3.0% yield.

Jennison Associates LLC cut its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,102,885 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 43,175 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 0.47% of MetLife worth $244,942,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,555,335 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,727,518,000 after buying an additional 7,805,814 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox increased its holdings in MetLife by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 53,659,664 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,419,947,000 after purchasing an additional 477,783 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in MetLife by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,572,807 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,035,622,000 after purchasing an additional 180,683 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in MetLife by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 9,672,023 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $796,685,000 after purchasing an additional 527,388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in MetLife by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,746,341 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $640,357,000 after purchasing an additional 352,395 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their price target on MetLife from $103.00 to $99.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Barclays dropped their price target on MetLife from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings cut MetLife from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on MetLife from $91.00 to $88.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on MetLife from $101.00 to $93.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $93.38.

MetLife Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE MET opened at $79.42 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $73.10 and a 200-day moving average of $76.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.74. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.33 and a 52 week high of $83.85. 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 released its 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 company had revenue of $52.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $31.43 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.81% and a net margin of 4.38%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.85 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be paid a $0.5925 dividend. This is an increase from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. MetLife's payout ratio is 48.30%.

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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