MetLife, Inc. $MET Shares Sold by AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc reduced its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 35.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 543,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 300,750 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings in MetLife were worth $38,440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 valued at $5,727,518,000 after buying an additional 7,805,814 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox increased its position in shares of MetLife by 0.9% during the third quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 53,659,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,419,947,000 after acquiring an additional 477,783 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position 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 worth $1,035,622,000 after acquiring an additional 180,683 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $938,071,000 after acquiring an additional 2,211,315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at $639,986,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on MET shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on MetLife from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on MetLife from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on MetLife from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on MetLife from $103.00 to $99.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.31.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET stock opened at $85.76 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $81.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.77. The company has a market cap of $55.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.62, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.78. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.33 and a 12 month high of $89.62.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $14.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 22.60% and a net margin of 4.66%.MetLife’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.96 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued a $0.5925 dividend. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.