MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Purchased by Peddock Capital Advisors LLC

Peddock Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $993,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MET. 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 about $131,456,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 7,837.0% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,129,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $79,250,000 after acquiring an additional 1,115,124 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in MetLife by 22.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,396,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $378,799,000 after acquiring an additional 988,666 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in MetLife by 29.7% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,120,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $157,133,000 after acquiring an additional 485,811 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MET has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on MetLife from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on MetLife in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.00.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MET traded up $1.01 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $84.29. 493,330 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,335,075. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $76.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.47. The company has a market cap of $59.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.91 and a 12-month high of $84.32.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be paid a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.