3,863,654 Shares in MetLife, Inc. $MET Acquired by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,863,654 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $326,904,000.

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

MetLife Price Performance

NYSE:MET opened at $95.91 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $92.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.45. The company has a market cap of $61.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.78. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $67.33 and a 52-week high of $100.93.

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

MetLife announced that its board has initiated a stock 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 management believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 2.5%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the topic of a number of research reports. Atlantic Securities set a $103.00 price target on shares of MetLife in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $102.21.

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.