AQR Capital Management LLC Acquires 132,982 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 11.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,247,795 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 132,982 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.18% of MetLife worth $87,583,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 16,500.0% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,490 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 2,475 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LP bought a new position in MetLife in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $240,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 56.7% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 117,722 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,263,000 after acquiring an additional 42,603 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.0% in the second quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 83,096 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,833,000 after acquiring an additional 2,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in MetLife by 347.4% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 432,887 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,384,000 after acquiring an additional 336,127 shares during the period. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MET shares. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of MetLife in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $91.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on MetLife from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $84.54.

MetLife Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of MET opened at $82.11 on Friday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $75.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.90. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $57.91 and a one year high of $82.30. The company has a market capitalization of $57.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.02, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $17.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. MetLife's payout ratio is 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.