OFI Invest Asset Management Increases Stake in MetLife, Inc. $MET

OFI Invest Asset Management boosted its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 5.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 397,713 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,726 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management’s holdings in MetLife were worth $31,984,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the first quarter valued at approximately $336,965,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the first quarter valued at approximately $312,946,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 7.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,488,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,126,734,000 after buying an additional 1,824,907 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the first quarter valued at approximately $68,030,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 85.0% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,321,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $104,270,000 after buying an additional 607,333 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Trading Down 2.6%

MetLife stock opened at $79.88 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.12. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $89.05. The company has a market capitalization of $53.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.86.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.32 by ($0.30). MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%.The company had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be issued a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is 38.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on MetLife from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.18.

About MetLife

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.