Brooklyn FI LLC Makes New $738,000 Investment in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Brooklyn FI LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 8,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $738,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. REAP Financial Group LLC raised its position in MetLife by 33.5% during the fourth quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $71,000. Armis Advisers LLC acquired a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $279,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $128,000. Finally, Challenger Wealth Management acquired a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $625,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Price Performance

MetLife stock opened at $77.20 on Tuesday. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $89.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $76.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.08. The company has a market cap of $51.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.93, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its 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). MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. The company had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. MetLife’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

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

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be issued a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 36.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.17.

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.