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MetLife, Inc. $MET Shares Acquired by CX Institutional

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Key Points

  • CX Institutional boosted its stake in MetLife by 14.1% to 109,480 shares (worth $8.64M), and other large funds including Vanguard also increased positions—institutions now own about 94.99% of the stock.
  • Recent results beat expectations: MetLife reported $2.49 EPS versus $2.34 expected and revenue of $52.44B (up 27.6% year-over-year), with analysts projecting roughly 9.87 EPS for the current year.
  • Dividend raised to $0.5925 quarterly (annualized $2.37) for a ~3.0% yield
  • Interested in MetLife? Here are five stocks we like better.

CX Institutional lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 14.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 109,480 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 13,508 shares during the period. CX Institutional's holdings in MetLife were worth $8,642,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MET. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 12.1% during the fourth 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 during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 105.3% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,305,620 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $271,424,000 after buying an additional 1,695,563 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 173.4% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,641,253 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $135,190,000 after buying an additional 1,040,894 shares during the period. Man Group plc boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 325.5% during the second quarter. Man Group plc now owns 1,344,551 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $108,129,000 after buying an additional 1,028,554 shares during the period. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $81,494,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company's stock.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $80.29 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market cap of $52.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.08, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.78. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.33 and a 52 week high of $83.85. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $73.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.57.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 21.81%. The company had revenue of $52.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $31.43 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.87 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $93.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $93.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $88.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $93.38.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on MetLife

MetLife News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting MetLife this week:

MetLife Company Profile

(Free Report)

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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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for MetLife (NYSE:MET)

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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