MetLife, Inc. $MET Position Boosted by Algebris UK Ltd.

Algebris UK Ltd. boosted its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 474,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 65,081 shares during the period. MetLife comprises approximately 4.4% of Algebris UK Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Algebris UK Ltd.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $39,087,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 3,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,008 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $660,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 15.5% in the third quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 8,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $691,000 after purchasing an additional 1,127 shares during the last quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. lifted its position in MetLife by 1.2% in the third quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 219,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,039,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 2.5% during the third quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 244,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,128,000 after purchasing an additional 5,853 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on MET. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Barclays set a $90.00 target price on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on MetLife from $95.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.27.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET opened at $75.78 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.18 and a quick ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.93 billion, a PE ratio of 14.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.76. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $87.93.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.07. The firm 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%.The business’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 earned $1.95 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 3rd. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.