Jackson Square Capital LLC Decreases Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Jackson Square Capital LLC lowered its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,668 shares during the quarter. Jackson Square Capital LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $685,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in MetLife by 3.4% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in MetLife by 22.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,396,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $378,799,000 after purchasing an additional 988,666 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in MetLife by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,299,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $371,993,000 after purchasing an additional 269,246 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in MetLife by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,224,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $226,358,000 after purchasing an additional 100,782 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 29.7% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,120,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $157,133,000 after buying an additional 485,811 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MET shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.46.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $83.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $57.64 billion, a PE ratio of 16.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.09. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $58.89 and a one year high of $86.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.95%.

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.