Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Has $20.71 Million Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 8.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 257,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,597 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $20,714,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings 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 worth $722,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,606,748 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 13,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 2,940 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 12,723 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 435,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,687,000 after buying an additional 28,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 52.1% during the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 9,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $751,000 after buying an additional 3,204 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MET shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. UBS Group upped their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.17.

MetLife Stock Performance

MET opened at $79.14 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $53.13 billion, a PE ratio of 12.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $89.05. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.19.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 20.89%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th were given a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 36.91%.

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.