LSV Asset Management Has $152.88 Million Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

LSV Asset Management cut its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 14.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,867,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 326,160 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in MetLife were worth $152,883,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. F M Investments LLC increased its position in MetLife by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. F M Investments LLC now owns 112,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,199,000 after buying an additional 13,929 shares during the last quarter. Estabrook Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 100.3% in the fourth quarter. Estabrook Capital Management now owns 589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 106.3% during the fourth quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 111,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,092,000 after purchasing an additional 57,204 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P bought a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $224,000. Finally, Faithward Advisors LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 5,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $419,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, March 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.62.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $75.34 on Thursday. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $89.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $51.32 billion, a PE ratio of 12.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.59.

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

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.