MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Purchased by Caprock Group LLC

Caprock Group LLC boosted its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 24.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,923 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,647 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,679,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp acquired a new position in MetLife in the first quarter valued at $7,012,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 54.9% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 371,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,983,000 after purchasing an additional 131,538 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,005,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $132,641,000 after purchasing an additional 35,782 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter worth about $1,053,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in MetLife by 2,313.7% during the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 104,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,772,000 after purchasing an additional 100,532 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on MET. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Argus raised their price objective on MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.54.

MetLife Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE MET opened at $75.48 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $53.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.91 and a 12 month high of $79.34. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $73.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.15.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. The business had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.91%.

About MetLife

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.