Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd. Buys Shares of 7,076 MetLife, Inc. $MET

Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd. purchased a new position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 7,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $569,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quaker Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in MetLife by 198.2% during the second quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 672 shares during the last quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the second quarter valued at $37,000. GFG Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Abound Wealth Management boosted its stake in MetLife by 652.3% in the 2nd quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in MetLife in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:MET opened at $82.08 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $88.09. The company has a market cap of $54.08 billion, a PE ratio of 15.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.76.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.07. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.00% and a net margin of 5.30%.The firm had revenue of $12.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.95 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 42.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MET has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised shares of MetLife to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on MetLife from $96.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Monday. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on MetLife from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.60.

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.