AIA Group Ltd Acquires 16,288 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

AIA Group Ltd increased its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 93.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,714 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,288 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in MetLife were worth $2,777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in MetLife by 3.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,585 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Trustmark Bank Trust Department increased its position in shares of MetLife by 4.6% during the third quarter. Trustmark Bank Trust Department now owns 2,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $236,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of MetLife by 4.2% during the third quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $263,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 4.9% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $230,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in MetLife by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 7,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $580,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on MetLife from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. TD Cowen cut their price target on MetLife from $91.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Barclays set a $90.00 price objective on MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. UBS Group lifted their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Mizuho set a $100.00 target price on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.67.

MetLife Trading Down 0.1%

MetLife stock opened at $68.56 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.59, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.21 and a 52 week high of $85.00.

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

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.30%.

MetLife 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.