Capital Analysts LLC Grows Stake in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Capital Analysts LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Capital Analysts LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $2,808,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Erste Asset Management GmbH increased its position in MetLife by 2.2% during the first quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 117,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,316,000 after buying an additional 2,511 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment increased its position in MetLife by 11.0% during the first quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 632,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,105,000 after buying an additional 62,650 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA purchased a new position in MetLife during the first quarter worth $290,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in MetLife during the first quarter worth $1,008,000. Finally, Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC increased its position in MetLife by 20.5% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC now owns 3,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MET. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on MetLife from $98.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $97.00 price objective (up previously from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Barclays lifted their price objective on MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.60.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $78.9760 on Thursday. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $89.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.39, a PEG ratio of 0.71 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 0.57. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $77.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.60.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.58 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.28 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 38.47%.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback 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 typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.