MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Acquired by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 240,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,846 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $16,875,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Choreo LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 321.3% during the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 58,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,069,000 after purchasing an additional 44,402 shares during the period. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 22.4% during the 2nd quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $265,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares during the period. Prudential PLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 85.5% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 191,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,458,000 after purchasing an additional 88,371 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter worth $126,000. Finally, Mount Lucas Management LP purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter worth $2,210,000. 89.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MET shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Argus raised their target price on MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on MetLife from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.54.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $74.74 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.91 and a fifty-two week high of $79.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.15 billion, a PE ratio of 25.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.20.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its 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 return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. The business had revenue of $17.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were given a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.91%.

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.