Aigen Investment Management LP Makes New $1.51 Million Investment in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 19,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,511,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in MetLife by 12.1% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Dodge & Cox lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 477,783 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 180,683 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 22.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,211,315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $639,986,000. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

More MetLife News

Here are the key news stories impacting MetLife this week:

• Positive Sentiment: MetLife expanded its settlement solutions business with a new deferred-payment offering for non-physical injury claims, suggesting continued product innovation and growth opportunities in a specialized insurance segment. MetLife Broadens Settlement Solutions Portfolio With NQA-FA
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to view MetLife favorably, with a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy,” which can help reinforce investor confidence in the stock. MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their price target on MetLife from $103.00 to $99.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on MetLife from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on MetLife from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on MetLife from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.31.

MetLife Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE MET opened at $88.69 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $67.33 and a 1-year high of $89.44. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $79.55 and a 200-day moving average of $77.40. The firm has a market cap of $57.07 billion, a PE ratio of 17.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.78.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its 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. MetLife had a return on equity of 22.60% and a net margin of 4.66%.The company had revenue of $14.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.96 EPS. MetLife’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.98 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

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