MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Position Lessened by Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL

Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL decreased its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,650 shares during the period. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL’s holdings in MetLife were worth $2,629,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at about $730,716,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in MetLife by 33.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 24,663,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,019,427,000 after purchasing an additional 6,213,923 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in MetLife by 109.2% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 4,606,748 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 43.7% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,663,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $463,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723,461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its position in MetLife by 76.0% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $283,862,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496,645 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group lifted their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.17.

MetLife Stock Down 0.6%

MET stock opened at $77.20 on Tuesday. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $89.05. The firm has a market cap of $51.82 billion, a PE ratio of 12.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

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

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. 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 2.94%. MetLife’s payout ratio is 36.91%.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 repurchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.