Farringdon Capital Ltd. Makes New Investment in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Farringdon Capital Ltd. acquired a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,368 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $440,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of MET stock opened at $72.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $49.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.14, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $79.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.19. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. Research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on MET. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on MetLife from $109.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.46.

MetLife Profile

MetLife, Inc, a financial services company, provides insurance, annuities, employee benefits, and asset management services worldwide. It operates through six segments: Retirement and Income Solutions; Group Benefits; Asia; Latin America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and MetLife Holdings. The company offers life, dental, group short-and long-term disability, individual disability, pet insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, vision, and accident and health coverages, as well as prepaid legal plans; administrative services-only arrangements to employers; and general and separate account, and synthetic guaranteed interest contracts, as well as private floating rate funding agreements.