Toronto Dominion Bank Acquires 19,307 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 336,124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 19,307 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in MetLife were worth $27,521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in MetLife by 33.7% during 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,931,536 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $973,901,000 after purchasing an additional 158,107 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at about $730,716,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in MetLife by 109.2% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 4,606,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in MetLife by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,052,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $577,434,000 after buying an additional 958,458 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $80.80 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $77.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.14. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.21 and a 52-week high of $89.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $54.24 billion, a PE ratio of 13.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.04). MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. The business had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors 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 boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.91%.

MetLife declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan 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 reacquire up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MET shares. StockNews.com upgraded MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays reduced their price target on MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.69.

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.