Chapman Financial Group LLC Acquires New Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Chapman Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $57,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MET. CX Institutional increased its position in shares of MetLife by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 68,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,568,000 after purchasing an additional 9,337 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in MetLife by 109.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $722,727,000 after buying an additional 4,606,748 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in MetLife by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 13,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,116,000 after acquiring an additional 2,940 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 776,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,559,000 after acquiring an additional 12,723 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $259,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $77.39 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $89.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.04 billion, a PE ratio of 12.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $77.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.40.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. The business’s revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 36.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of MetLife from $109.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group increased their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays dropped their target price on MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.46.

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.