Lazari Capital Management Inc. Buys New Shares in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Lazari Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in MetLife by 54.9% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 371,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,983,000 after acquiring an additional 131,538 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter worth $1,053,000. Entropy Technologies LP grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 8,440 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new position in MetLife in the second quarter valued at $2,346,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in MetLife by 53.0% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 618,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,848,000 after buying an additional 214,367 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:MET opened at $84.77 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.29. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.91 and a 12-month high of $86.94. The firm has a market cap of $60.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.13, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $17.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.61 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MET. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.46.

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.