Pzena Investment Management LLC Increases Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 22.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,883,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,211,315 shares during the quarter. MetLife comprises about 2.8% of Pzena Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Pzena Investment Management LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $938,071,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MET. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,555,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,727,518,000 after purchasing an additional 7,805,814 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 105.3% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,305,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $271,424,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695,563 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 173.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,641,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $135,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040,894 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 325.5% in the 2nd quarter. Man Group plc now owns 1,344,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $108,129,000 after purchasing an additional 1,028,554 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at about $81,494,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on MET. Weiss Ratings upgraded MetLife from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on MetLife from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on MetLife from $91.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Evercore set a $96.00 price objective on MetLife in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on MetLife from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, MetLife presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.15.

MetLife Trading Up 2.2%

MET opened at $84.29 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $67.33 and a one year high of $84.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.23 billion, a PE ratio of 16.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $74.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.62. 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 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 return on equity of 22.60% and a net margin of 4.66%.The firm had revenue of $14.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.96 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.92 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be issued a $0.5925 dividend. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 45.93%.

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.