Panagora Asset Management Inc. Grows Stake in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 524,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,721 shares during the quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $41,413,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MML Investors Services LLC raised its position in MetLife by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 169,106 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,349,000 after purchasing an additional 8,833 shares during the period. Mariner LLC increased its position in shares of MetLife by 25.4% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 220,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,426,000 after acquiring an additional 44,677 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in shares of MetLife by 209.6% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 204,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,149,000 after acquiring an additional 138,484 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in shares of MetLife by 279.3% during the fourth quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 83,879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,621,000 after acquiring an additional 61,765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $5,915,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MET. TD Cowen dropped their target price on MetLife from $91.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on MetLife from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Barclays lifted their target price on MetLife from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group lifted their target price on MetLife from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Mizuho set a $95.00 target price on MetLife in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.31.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET stock opened at $87.66 on Tuesday. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $79.88 and a two-hundred 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 market cap 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) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $14.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.96 earnings per share. MetLife’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.98 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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 presently 45.93%.

MetLife Company 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.