Graham Capital Management L.P. Decreases Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Graham Capital Management L.P. cut its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 62.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 101,331 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $5,093,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in MetLife by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 42,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,484,000 after buying an additional 4,722 shares during the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of MetLife by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 1,085,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,905,000 after acquiring an additional 67,032 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. lifted its stake in MetLife by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 108,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,873,000 after purchasing an additional 6,313 shares during the last quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. boosted its holdings in MetLife by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 2,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clark Capital Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $222,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Stock Up 0.3 %

MET stock opened at $77.82 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $89.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The company has a fifty day moving average of $77.09 and a 200-day moving average of $81.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.24 billion, a PE ratio of 13.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. MetLife’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a $0.5675 dividend. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.91%.

MetLife declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on MetLife from $109.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.69.

MetLife Company Profile

MetLife, Inc, a financial services company, provides insurance, annuities, employee benefits, and asset management services worldwide. It operates through six segments: Retirement and Income Solutions; Group Benefits; Asia; Latin America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and MetLife Holdings. The company offers life, dental, group short-and long-term disability, individual disability, pet insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, vision, and accident and health coverages, as well as prepaid legal plans; administrative services-only arrangements to employers; and general and separate account, and synthetic guaranteed interest contracts, as well as private floating rate funding agreements.