MetLife, Inc. $MET Shares Purchased by Wellington Management Group LLP

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its MetLife position by 1.5% in Q3, owning 12,572,807 shares (about 1.91% of the company) after buying 180,683 shares, valued at roughly $1.036 billion.
• MetLife beat expectations with $2.49 EPS versus a $2.34 consensus and reported $52.44 billion in revenue (up 27.6% year-over-year), with a net margin of 4.38% and ROE of 21.81%.
• Analysts hold a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with an average price target of $93.67, while the stock trades near $68.00 and yields about 3.3% from a $0.5675 quarterly dividend.

Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,572,807 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 180,683 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 1.91% of MetLife worth $1,035,622,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC acquired a new position in MetLife during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 95.4% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 422 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 564.1% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 425 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the period. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho set a $100.00 target price on MetLife in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group lifted their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $93.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Barclays set a $90.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of MetLife from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $93.67.

MetLife Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE MET opened at $68.00 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $76.20 and a 200-day moving average of $78.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $85.00. The company has a market cap of $44.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.76.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released 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 firm had revenue of $52.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.08 earnings per share. MetLife's revenue was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. MetLife's payout ratio 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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