Entropy Technologies LP Purchases Shares of 74,932 MetLife, Inc. $MET

Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 74,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,915,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 valued at $5,727,518,000 after acquiring an additional 7,805,814 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 0.9% during 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 period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 1.5% during 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 period. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew 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 valued at $938,071,000 after acquiring an additional 2,211,315 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $639,986,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Trading Up 1.3%

MET stock opened at $88.69 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $67.33 and a 1-year high of $89.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20. The company has a market capitalization of $57.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.19, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.40.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 22.60% and a net margin of 4.66%.The business had revenue of $14.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MET. Wall Street Zen downgraded MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Evercore set a $96.00 price objective on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Mizuho set a $95.00 price objective on MetLife in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded MetLife from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on MetLife from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One investment 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.31.

More MetLife News

Here are the key news stories impacting MetLife this week:

• Positive Sentiment: MetLife expanded its settlement solutions business with a new deferred-payment offering for non-physical injury claims, suggesting continued product innovation and growth opportunities in a specialized insurance segment. MetLife Broadens Settlement Solutions Portfolio With NQA-FA
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to view MetLife favorably, with a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy,” which can help reinforce investor confidence in the stock. MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

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.