MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Purchased by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. lifted its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 108,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,313 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $8,873,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET opened at $77.82 on Friday. 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 capitalization of $52.24 billion, a PE ratio of 13.04, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $77.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.24.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.04). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. The company had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be paid a $0.5675 dividend. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 36.91%.

MetLife announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on MetLife from $109.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.69.

MetLife Company 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.