Symmetry Investments LP Takes Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Symmetry Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 14,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,007,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 3.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,622,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,418,612,000 after buying an additional 1,974,268 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in MetLife by 22.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,396,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $378,799,000 after purchasing an additional 988,666 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in MetLife by 3.2% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,224,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $226,358,000 after purchasing an additional 100,782 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in MetLife by 4.1% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,772,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $205,544,000 after purchasing an additional 108,739 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in MetLife by 29.7% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,120,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $157,133,000 after purchasing an additional 485,811 shares during the period. 89.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $80.85 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.91 and a fifty-two week high of $81.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.62. The company has a market cap of $57.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The firm had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th were given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.54.

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.