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

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,434,737 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 290,734 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.93% of MetLife worth $526,869,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in MetLife by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 6,115 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 681 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife in the third quarter valued at approximately $336,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in MetLife in the third quarter valued at approximately $701,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in MetLife by 3.9% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 19,282 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,590,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 22,720 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on MET. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on MetLife from $109.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $92.46.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE:MET traded up $1.17 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $74.26. 3,517,883 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,411,747. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $78.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $89.05.

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

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be issued a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. This is a positive change from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is 36.52%.

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.