MetLife, Inc. $MET Shares Purchased by Impax Asset Management Group plc

Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 8.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 64,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,935 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in MetLife were worth $5,205,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Quaker Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in MetLife by 198.2% in the 2nd 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 period. Motco boosted its position in MetLife by 105.5% during the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. GFG Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Abound Wealth Management grew its position in MetLife by 652.3% in the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the second quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MET shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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 restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MetLife to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.00.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $79.44 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $52.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.87. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $89.05. The business’s 50 day moving average is $79.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $12.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.64 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The business’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.95 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.75%.

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.