Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $87.57 Million Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,088,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 37,995 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $87,571,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kathmere Capital Management LLC grew its position in MetLife by 88.2% in the 2nd quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 6,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 2,965 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the first quarter valued at about $12,060,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its position in MetLife by 136.0% during the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 14,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,182,000 after buying an additional 8,482 shares in the last quarter. Bell Bank bought a new position in MetLife during the second quarter valued at about $267,000. Finally, Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in MetLife by 111.6% in the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 31,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,541,000 after acquiring an additional 16,664 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MET. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MetLife to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on MetLife from $96.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.18.

MetLife Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE MET opened at $76.11 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.86. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $89.05. The firm has a market cap of $50.62 billion, a PE ratio of 12.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $12.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.64 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%.The business’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.95 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.75%.

MetLife Company Profile

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.