Lawood & Co. Makes New Investment in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Lawood & Co. bought a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 17,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,381,000. MetLife comprises about 1.3% of Lawood & Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MET. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in MetLife by 12.1% during the 4th 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. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in MetLife by 105.3% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,305,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $271,424,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695,563 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in MetLife by 173.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,641,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $135,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040,894 shares during the last quarter. Man Group plc grew its position in MetLife by 325.5% during the 2nd quarter. Man Group plc now owns 1,344,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $108,129,000 after purchasing an additional 1,028,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth approximately $81,494,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.15.

MetLife Stock Up 0.8%

MET stock opened at $79.79 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.54. The company has a market capitalization of $51.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.33 and a 12 month high of $83.85.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $14.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 22.60%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.96 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.92 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 45.93%.

About MetLife

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.