MetLife, Inc. $MET Position Increased by Arjuna Capital

Arjuna Capital increased its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 16.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 61,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,929 shares during the period. MetLife comprises 1.2% of Arjuna Capital’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Arjuna Capital’s holdings in MetLife were worth $4,866,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Providence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the third quarter valued at $6,649,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in MetLife by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,176,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,905,000 after acquiring an additional 96,523 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of MetLife by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,630,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $366,524,000 after purchasing an additional 117,545 shares during the last quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 137,956 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,363,000 after acquiring an additional 24,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 393,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,374,000 after acquiring an additional 30,200 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore set a $96.00 price objective on MetLife in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on MetLife from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America decreased their target price on MetLife from $103.00 to $99.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Mizuho set a $95.00 price objective on MetLife in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on MetLife from $101.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.15.

MetLife Price Performance

NYSE MET opened at $79.79 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $51.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.46, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $73.91 and a 200 day moving average of $76.54. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $67.33 and a one year high of $83.85.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $14.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 22.60% and a net margin of 4.66%.The business’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.96 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.92 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 issued a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.