MetLife, Inc. $MET Shares Acquired by Pzena Investment Management LLC

Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,144,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 585,671 shares during the quarter. MetLife comprises approximately 2.4% of Pzena Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Pzena Investment Management LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $735,412,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. North Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Motco increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 105.5% in the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. GFG Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Abound Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 652.3% in the 2nd quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $79.88 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $79.68 and a 200 day moving average of $78.08. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $89.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by ($0.30). MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on MetLife from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research raised MetLife to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on MetLife from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.18.

MetLife Company 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.