Dodge & Cox Has $4.28 Billion Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Dodge & Cox reduced its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 53,181,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 731,296 shares during the period. MetLife makes up 2.4% of Dodge & Cox’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Dodge & Cox owned about 0.08% of MetLife worth $4,276,887,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Delta Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 14,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,145,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 6,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in MetLife by 3.2% in the second quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $350,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Glenview Trust co increased its stake in MetLife by 0.4% in the first quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 38,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,078,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in MetLife by 1.0% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 14,902 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,198,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Price Performance

MET stock opened at $77.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a current ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.68, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $78.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.71. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.21 and a 52-week high of $88.09.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.07. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.00% and a net margin of 5.30%.The firm had revenue of $12.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.95 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on MET. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MetLife to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered MetLife from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, September 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.60.

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.