Graham Capital Management L.P. Acquires Shares of 77,510 MetLife, Inc. $MET

Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 77,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,119,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,555,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,727,518,000 after purchasing an additional 7,805,814 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 0.9% in the third quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 53,659,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,419,947,000 after purchasing an additional 477,783 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,572,807 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,035,622,000 after purchasing an additional 180,683 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,883,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $938,071,000 after purchasing an additional 2,211,315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at $639,986,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $87.33 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $80.22 and a 200-day moving average of $77.58. The stock has a market cap of $56.19 billion, a PE ratio of 16.92, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.78. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $67.33 and a 52-week high of $89.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $14.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 22.60%. MetLife’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.96 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.98 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were given a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on MET shares. Barclays lifted their price target on MetLife from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Mizuho set a $95.00 price target on MetLife in a report on Friday, May 8th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.31.

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.