CI Investments Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. $MET

CI Investments Inc. grew its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 28.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 82,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,264 shares during the quarter. CI Investments Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $5,828,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in MetLife by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,555,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,727,518,000 after purchasing an additional 7,805,814 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in 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 period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $639,986,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,012,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $553,543,000 after buying an additional 176,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,201,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $410,581,000 after buying an additional 126,098 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $92.65 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $67.33 and a 52-week high of $94.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.45. The firm has a market cap of $59.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.78.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 22.60%. The firm had revenue of $14.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be given a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 4th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the topic of a number of research reports. Atlantic Securities set a $103.00 price target on MetLife in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on MetLife from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Mizuho boosted their target price on MetLife from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on MetLife from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven 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 “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.50.

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.