Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Grows Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:METFree Report) by 0.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 779,356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,112 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned about 0.12% of MetLife worth $62,574,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Eagle Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 2,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group increased its position in shares of MetLife by 1.0% in the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 13,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,096,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its position in shares of MetLife by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 11,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $925,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in shares of MetLife by 2.5% in the first quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 6,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $519,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA increased its position in shares of MetLife by 0.7% in the first quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 23,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,900,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MET has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $97.00 price objective (up from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.09.

View Our Latest Analysis on MET

MetLife Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of MET opened at $78.53 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $78.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.77, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.85. 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.

MetLife (NYSE:METGet Free Report) 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). MetLife had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 20.89%. The business had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.06 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.91%.

MetLife Profile

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for MetLife (NYSE:MET)

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