Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Invests $552,000 in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 6,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $552,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Strs Ohio boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 326,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,742,000 after acquiring an additional 46,469 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its holdings in MetLife by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 714,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,712,000 after buying an additional 14,515 shares in the last quarter. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $81,494,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 195.8% in the fourth quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 33,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,626,000 after buying an additional 22,016 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 622,789 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,163,000 after buying an additional 13,657 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MET shares. Weiss Ratings raised MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on MetLife from $93.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Atlantic Securities set a $103.00 price target on MetLife in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.64.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET opened at $95.12 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $67.33 and a one year high of $100.93. The stock has a market cap of $61.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $92.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.98.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.13. MetLife had a return on equity of 23.39% and a net margin of 4.57%.The firm had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. MetLife’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be given a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 4th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 45.40%.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, August 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 4.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Profile

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.