MetLife, Inc. $MET Shares Purchased by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,489,588 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 424,773 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 1.13% of MetLife worth $616,896,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MET. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in MetLife by 3.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,585 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of MetLife by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $263,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 7,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $580,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in MetLife by 1.0% during the third quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 13,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,146,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on MET shares. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Evercore set a $95.00 target price on shares of MetLife in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on MetLife from $101.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.18.

MetLife Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of MET stock opened at $72.62 on Wednesday. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $85.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.35 billion, a PE ratio of 15.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $77.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $52.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.43 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 21.81%. The company’s revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 3rd. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.30%.

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.