Hsbc Holdings PLC Acquires 449,392 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 29.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,991,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 449,392 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.31% of MetLife worth $157,440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MET. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in MetLife by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,555,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,727,518,000 after purchasing an additional 7,805,814 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox boosted its position in MetLife by 0.9% during the third quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 53,659,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,419,947,000 after buying an additional 477,783 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 1.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,572,807 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,035,622,000 after buying an additional 180,683 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,883,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $938,071,000 after buying an additional 2,211,315 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at about $639,986,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Up 0.2%

MET opened at $85.76 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.62, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.78. 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 one year low of $67.33 and a one year high of $89.62.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $14.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 22.60% and a net margin of 4.66%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.96 EPS. Analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.98 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 45.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MET shares. Barclays raised their price target on MetLife from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Evercore set a $96.00 price objective on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Mizuho set a $95.00 price target on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.31.

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.