Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd Purchases New Holdings in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 7,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $553,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MET. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 0.9% during the 3rd 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 period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in MetLife by 1.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 180,683 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $639,986,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $85.76 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $81.04 and its 200-day moving average is $77.77. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $67.33 and a 52-week high of $89.62. The company has a market cap of $55.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 EPS 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 business had revenue of $14.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.96 earnings per share. MetLife’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.98 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on MET shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Piper Sandler boosted 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, UBS Group upped their target price on MetLife from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.