Inceptionr LLC Grows Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Inceptionr LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 402.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 28,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,992 shares during the quarter. MetLife comprises 0.5% of Inceptionr LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Inceptionr LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $2,030,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at $639,986,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,555,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,727,518,000 after buying an additional 7,805,814 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in MetLife by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,883,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $938,071,000 after acquiring an additional 2,211,315 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in MetLife by 105.3% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,305,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $271,424,000 after acquiring an additional 1,695,563 shares during the period. Finally, Man Group plc increased its stake in MetLife by 325.5% during the second quarter. Man Group plc now owns 1,344,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $108,129,000 after acquiring an additional 1,028,554 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE:MET opened at $92.65 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $86.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market cap of $59.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.95, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.78. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $67.33 and a 1-year high of $94.86.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $14.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 22.60% and a net margin of 4.66%.The company’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.96 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be given a $0.5925 dividend. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on MetLife from $96.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on MetLife from $103.00 to $99.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.50.

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.