ExodusPoint Capital Management LP Makes New Investment in MetLife, Inc. $MET

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 270,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $21,368,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Norges Bank bought a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth about $639,986,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 buying an additional 7,805,814 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,883,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $938,071,000 after buying an additional 2,211,315 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 1,695,563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted 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 buying an additional 1,040,894 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of MetLife from $103.00 to $99.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Evercore set a $96.00 price objective on MetLife in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.31.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $87.33 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick 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 $89.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $80.22 and a 200-day moving average of $77.58. The company has a market capitalization of $56.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.78.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $14.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 22.60% and a net margin of 4.66%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.96 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.98 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. 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.