Forsta AP Fonden Has $22.45 Million Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Forsta AP Fonden lifted its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 32.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 279,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 68,100 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in MetLife were worth $22,453,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quaker Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in MetLife by 198.2% in the second quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. Motco grew its position in shares of MetLife by 105.5% during the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the period. GFG Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Abound Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 652.3% during the 2nd quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the period. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in MetLife during the second quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET opened at $80.17 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.87. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.21 and a 52 week high of $89.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $79.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

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

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be paid a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.00.

MetLife 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.