MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Acquired by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 22.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,396,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 988,666 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.76% of MetLife worth $378,799,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MET. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter worth $558,460,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 3.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,622,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,418,612,000 after purchasing an additional 1,974,268 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the first quarter worth $131,456,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 7,837.0% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,129,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $79,250,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115,124 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 29.7% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,120,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,133,000 after purchasing an additional 485,811 shares during the period. 89.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays initiated coverage on MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America cut their price objective on MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.54.

MetLife Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of MET stock opened at $77.38 on Tuesday. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.91 and a fifty-two week high of $79.34. The stock has a market cap of $55.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. The business had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th were given a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.91%.

About MetLife

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.