Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Buys 1,771,689 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 133.5% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,098,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,771,689 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in MetLife were worth $219,136,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in MetLife during the 1st quarter valued at about $307,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 187.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,680,000 after purchasing an additional 21,771 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in MetLife in the second quarter valued at approximately $404,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the second quarter valued at about $444,000. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Price Performance

MetLife stock opened at $94.67 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.91 billion, a PE ratio of 18.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.78. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $67.33 and a 12-month high of $94.86. 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 50-day moving average price of $87.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.55.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. MetLife had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 22.60%. The company had revenue of $14.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.9 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is 45.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MET. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on MetLife from $97.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on MetLife from $93.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on MetLife from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. One equities research 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 MarketBeat.com, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.50.

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.