Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Grows Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 133.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,326,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 759,360 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in MetLife were worth $104,750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Trustmark Bank Trust Department raised its holdings in MetLife by 4.6% during the third quarter. Trustmark Bank Trust Department now owns 2,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC raised its holdings in MetLife by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 26,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,128,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its holdings in MetLife by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 10,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $802,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH raised its holdings in MetLife by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 30,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,402,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgewater Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in MetLife by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 4,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler raised their price target on MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. UBS Group raised their price target on MetLife from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Bank of America decreased their price target on MetLife from $103.00 to $99.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Mizuho set a $95.00 target price on MetLife in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Evercore set a $96.00 target price on MetLife in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.31.

MetLife Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $87.66 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $79.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $67.33 and a 1-year high of $89.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.99, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.78.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 22.60% and a net margin of 4.66%.The company had revenue of $14.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.98 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were paid a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. MetLife’s payout ratio is 45.93%.

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.