Havemeyer Place LP Invests $1.54 Million in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Havemeyer Place LP acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 19,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,538,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MET. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter valued at about $307,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 187.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,680,000 after acquiring an additional 21,771 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter valued at about $404,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter valued at about $444,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

MET opened at $84.61 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $77.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $67.33 and a 12-month high of $85.29.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $14.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 22.60% and a net margin of 4.66%.The company’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.96 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on MetLife from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Barclays increased their price objective on MetLife from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings raised MetLife from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on MetLife from $91.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.31.

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.