Legato Capital Management LLC Takes $662,000 Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Legato Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 8,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $662,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in MetLife by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in MetLife in the 1st quarter valued at $307,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in MetLife by 187.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,680,000 after purchasing an additional 21,771 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at $404,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at $444,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on MET shares. Evercore set a $96.00 price objective on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings raised MetLife from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on MetLife from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on MetLife from $103.00 to $99.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on MetLife from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.31.

MetLife Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of MET opened at $83.39 on Wednesday. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $67.33 and a 52-week high of $85.29. The company has a market capitalization of $53.66 billion, a PE ratio of 16.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.72. 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 (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $14.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.96 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be paid a $0.5925 dividend. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 45.93%.

MetLife 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.