First Trust Advisors LP Purchases 84,064 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 4.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,927,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 84,064 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in MetLife were worth $136,283,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MET. Norges Bank bought a new position in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $639,986,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 7,805,814 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased 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 valued at $938,071,000 after acquiring an additional 2,211,315 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 105.3% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,305,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $271,424,000 after acquiring an additional 1,695,563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 325.5% during the second quarter. Man Group plc now owns 1,344,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $108,129,000 after acquiring an additional 1,028,554 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MET opened at $92.65 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $59.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s fifty day moving average is $86.97 and its 200 day moving average is $79.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $67.33 and a 12-month high of $94.86.

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

MetLife Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MET has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on MetLife from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Evercore set a $96.00 target price on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Mizuho increased their price target on MetLife from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on MetLife from $97.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.50.

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.