MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Bought by Czech National Bank

Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 5.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 119,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,007 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank’s holdings in MetLife were worth $9,884,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the first quarter valued at approximately $7,012,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in MetLife by 54.9% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 371,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,983,000 after buying an additional 131,538 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in MetLife during the first quarter worth approximately $1,053,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in MetLife by 2,313.7% during the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 104,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,772,000 after buying an additional 100,532 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP boosted its holdings in MetLife by 38.3% during the first quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 30,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,258,000 after buying an additional 8,440 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MET has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of MetLife in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.25.

MetLife Stock Up 3.4 %

Shares of MetLife stock traded up $2.78 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $84.04. 4,905,746 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,352,342. The company has a market cap of $59.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.91 and a 52 week high of $84.26.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released 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. The business had revenue of $17.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. MetLife’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. Equities analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th were issued a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.91%.

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.