LSV Asset Management Sells 100,700 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

LSV Asset Management lessened its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,531,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 100,700 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management owned 0.23% of MetLife worth $120,905,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principle Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in MetLife by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares during the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC raised its position in MetLife by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 7,246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $572,000 after purchasing an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its position in MetLife by 231.5% in the 4th quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 87,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,871,000 after purchasing an additional 60,785 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in MetLife by 22.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,211,315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in MetLife by 53.7% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 13,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,101,000 after purchasing an additional 4,871 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MET shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $103.00 to $99.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Mizuho set a $95.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Evercore set a $96.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.15.

MetLife Price Performance

MET stock opened at $83.97 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $75.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.67. The company has a market capitalization of $54.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.27, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.78. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $67.33 and a 52-week high of $85.29. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $14.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 22.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. MetLife’s payout ratio is 45.93%.

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.