Panagora Asset Management Inc. Raises Holdings in MetLife, Inc. $MET

by · The Markets Daily

Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET – Free Report) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 524,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,721 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.08% of MetLife worth $41,413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox raised its holdings in MetLife by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 53,659,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,419,947,000 after acquiring an additional 477,783 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in MetLife by 1.5% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 180,683 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 22.9% during 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 period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter worth $639,986,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Price Performance

MetLife stock opened at $87.66 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $79.88 and a 200-day moving average of $77.50. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $67.33 and a 52-week high of $89.62. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $56.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.99, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.78.

MetLife (NYSE:MET – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.98 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were given a $0.5925 dividend. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 45.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on MetLife from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on MetLife from $91.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Wall Street Zen cut MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.31.

View Our Latest Analysis on MET

MetLife Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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