First Horizon Corp Buys New Shares in MetLife, Inc. $MET

First Horizon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 189,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $15,594,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 10,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $876,000 after buying an additional 1,285 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in MetLife by 188.1% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 417,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,577,000 after acquiring an additional 272,619 shares in the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in MetLife by 88.2% during the 2nd quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 6,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $509,000 after acquiring an additional 2,965 shares during the last quarter. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in MetLife during the 2nd quarter worth $1,608,000. Finally, CX Institutional increased its position in shares of MetLife by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 95,972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,905,000 after purchasing an additional 22,285 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $79.37 on Monday. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.21 and a 1-year high of $88.09. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $78.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.18 and a quick ratio of 0.18. The company has a market capitalization of $52.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.95, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.76.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $12.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.64 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 5.30% and a return on equity of 21.00%. MetLife’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.95 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 3rd. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. UBS Group lowered their price target on MetLife from $95.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Barclays set a $90.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $101.00 price objective on shares of MetLife and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.08.

MetLife Company Profile

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.