Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas Boosts Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas lifted its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 28.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,081 shares during the quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas’ holdings in MetLife were worth $6,026,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 190.9% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. now owns 73,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,864,000 after purchasing an additional 48,111 shares in the last quarter. 71 West Capital Partners purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter worth about $220,000. USS Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 84,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,703,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 524,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,413,000 after purchasing an additional 7,721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 169,106 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,349,000 after purchasing an additional 8,833 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on MetLife from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. TD Cowen dropped their target price on MetLife from $91.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on MetLife from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Barclays increased their target price on MetLife from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded MetLife from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.31.

MetLife Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of MET stock opened at $87.66 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.40 billion, a PE ratio of 16.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.78. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $67.33 and a 1-year high of $89.62. The business has a 50-day moving average of $79.88 and a 200 day moving average of $77.50. 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 (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $14.18 billion during 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%.MetLife’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.96 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.98 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.93%.

MetLife Company Profile

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.