F M Investments LLC Raises Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

F M Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 17.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 98,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,976 shares during the quarter. F M Investments LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $8,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 54.9% during the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 371,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,983,000 after buying an additional 131,538 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 6,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $525,000 after buying an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter valued at $1,053,000. Entropy Technologies LP boosted its stake in MetLife by 38.3% in the 1st quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 30,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,258,000 after purchasing an additional 8,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new position in MetLife in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,346,000. 89.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of MetLife in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.38.

MetLife Price Performance

NYSE MET opened at $78.43 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.89 and a 52 week high of $86.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.81, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $80.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.88.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 5.27% and a return on equity of 20.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 5th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 43.95%.

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.