Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Raises Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lifted its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 154.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 74,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,447 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $6,162,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,585 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Trustmark Bank Trust Department increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 4.6% during the third quarter. Trustmark Bank Trust Department now owns 2,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in MetLife by 4.2% in the third quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in MetLife by 4.9% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in MetLife by 1.9% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 7,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $580,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MET shares. Mizuho set a $100.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded MetLife from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on MetLife from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. UBS Group upped their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays set a $90.00 target price on MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.18.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE MET opened at $70.71 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.21 and a 52-week high of $85.00. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $77.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.66. The firm has a market cap of $46.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.76.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 21.81%. The firm had revenue of $52.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. MetLife’s quarterly revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.30%.

MetLife 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.