MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Acquired by UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,113,108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 564,383 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned approximately 0.74% of MetLife worth $418,661,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of MetLife by 33.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 24,663,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,019,427,000 after purchasing an additional 6,213,923 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 worth $973,901,000 after purchasing an additional 158,107 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter worth $730,716,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of MetLife by 109.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 4,606,748 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of MetLife by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,052,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $577,434,000 after purchasing an additional 958,458 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Price Performance

MetLife stock opened at $80.25 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $53.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $89.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.15.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released 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 net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. The business had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders 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. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on MET. UBS Group upped their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.08.

About MetLife

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.