Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Raises Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR boosted its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 35.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 28,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,272 shares during the quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR’s holdings in MetLife were worth $2,313,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the second quarter worth about $756,104,000. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. acquired a new position in MetLife in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $178,669,000. Amundi raised its position in MetLife by 40.2% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 4,507,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $361,265,000 after buying an additional 1,292,107 shares during the last quarter. Man Group plc lifted its stake in MetLife by 325.5% during the 2nd quarter. Man Group plc now owns 1,344,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $108,129,000 after acquiring an additional 1,028,554 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1,028.2% in the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 856,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $68,912,000 after acquiring an additional 780,955 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MET. Piper Sandler cut shares of MetLife from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, September 19th. Barclays increased their price target on MetLife from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $101.00 target price on MetLife and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.73.

MetLife Price Performance

NYSE:MET opened at $80.31 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.21 and a 52 week high of $88.09. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $78.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.91 billion, a PE ratio of 15.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.76.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $12.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.64 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.00% and a net margin of 5.30%.MetLife’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 4th were paid a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.75%.

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.