17,500 Shares in MetLife, Inc. $MET Bought by Lawood & Co.

Lawood & Co. purchased a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 17,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,381,000. MetLife makes up about 1.3% of Lawood & Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in MetLife by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the first quarter valued at about $307,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 187.6% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,680,000 after purchasing an additional 21,771 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the second quarter worth about $404,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the second quarter worth about $444,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore set a $96.00 target price on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.15.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $79.79 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.78. 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 52 week low of $67.33 and a 52 week high of $83.85.

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. The business had revenue of $14.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 22.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.96 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.