77,510 Shares in MetLife, Inc. $MET Purchased by Graham Capital Management L.P.

Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 77,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,119,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MET. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in MetLife during the first quarter worth about $307,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 187.6% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,680,000 after purchasing an additional 21,771 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the second quarter worth about $404,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the second quarter worth about $444,000. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MET shares. Evercore set a $96.00 target price on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of MetLife from $103.00 to $99.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.31.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE:MET opened at $87.33 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $56.19 billion, a PE ratio of 16.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.33 and a fifty-two week high of $89.62.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $14.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 22.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.96 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.98 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 45.93%.

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.