Russell Investments Group Ltd. Grows Stake in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 9.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,253,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 106,538 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $103,194,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MET. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 39.9% in the 3rd quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 63,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,214,000 after purchasing an additional 18,042 shares during the period. Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in MetLife by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 47,631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,909,000 after buying an additional 7,837 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 1.7% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 14,884 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,226,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in MetLife by 5.0% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 287,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,697,000 after buying an additional 13,699 shares during the period. Finally, Korea Investment CORP increased its position in MetLife by 12.1% during the third quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 666,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,888,000 after acquiring an additional 71,781 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of MET opened at $70.71 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $77.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.76. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $85.00.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 21.81%. The company had revenue of $52.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MET. Barclays set a $90.00 target price on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MetLife from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Evercore set a $95.00 target price on MetLife in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $94.18.

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.