Tobam Boosts Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Tobam increased its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 53,725.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,596 shares during the quarter. Tobam’s holdings in MetLife were worth $680,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Norges Bank purchased a new position in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at $639,986,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,883,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $938,071,000 after purchasing an additional 2,211,315 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 105.3% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,305,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $271,424,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695,563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 173.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,641,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $135,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040,894 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $85.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20. The company has a 50-day moving average of $81.04 and a 200 day moving average of $77.77. The firm has a market cap of $55.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.62, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.78. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.33 and a 1 year high of $89.62.

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

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MET shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on MetLife from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on MetLife from $91.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Evercore set a $96.00 target price on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.31.

About MetLife

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.