Caprock Group LLC Invests $2.58 Million in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 31,399 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,578,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter valued at about $756,104,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in MetLife by 2.5% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,624,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $532,749,000 after purchasing an additional 162,041 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 2.0% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,512,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $367,643,000 after purchasing an additional 86,519 shares during the period. Amundi raised its position in shares of MetLife by 40.2% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 4,507,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $361,265,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292,107 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of MetLife by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,316,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $273,162,000 after purchasing an additional 154,889 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI set a $95.00 price target on MetLife in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Barclays set a $90.00 price target on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $101.00 price objective on shares of MetLife and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.42.

MetLife Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of MET opened at $77.28 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $87.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a current ratio of 0.20. The company’s fifty day moving average is $78.94 and its 200 day moving average is $78.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.92 billion, a PE ratio of 16.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.77.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.24. MetLife had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 21.81%. The firm had revenue of $18.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 3rd. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.30%.

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.