108,564 Shares in MetLife, Inc. $MET Bought by Commerce Bank

Commerce Bank bought a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 108,564 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,186,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the 2nd quarter worth about $4,381,692,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter valued at about $941,792,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth approximately $639,986,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in MetLife by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,555,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,727,518,000 after purchasing an additional 7,805,814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $293,287,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MET. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on MetLife from $97.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Mizuho raised their price objective on MetLife from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Atlantic Securities set a $103.00 price objective on MetLife in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.64.

MetLife Stock Up 0.1%

MET stock opened at $94.44 on Monday. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.33 and a twelve month high of $100.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $92.41 and its 200-day moving average is $82.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.77 billion, a PE ratio of 18.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.78.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $13.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 23.39% and a net margin of 4.57%.MetLife’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, August 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 4.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

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

MetLife Company 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.