Dodge & Cox Buys 477,783 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Dodge & Cox lifted its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 53,659,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 477,783 shares during the quarter. MetLife comprises approximately 2.4% of Dodge & Cox’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Dodge & Cox owned 0.08% of MetLife worth $4,419,947,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in MetLife during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $756,104,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in MetLife by 13.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,749,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,333,418,000 after acquiring an additional 7,578,199 shares in the last quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the second quarter valued at approximately $178,669,000. Amundi raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 40.2% during the second 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, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 173.4% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,641,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $135,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040,894 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET stock opened at $68.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $44.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.47, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50 day moving average of $76.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.37. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.21 and a 52 week high of $85.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.81% and a net margin of 4.38%.The business had revenue of $52.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.08 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MET shares. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday. Mizuho set a $100.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on MetLife from $101.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Barclays set a $90.00 price target on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on MetLife from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.67.

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.