National Pension Service Boosts Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

National Pension Service increased its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 4.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,476,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 66,639 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in MetLife were worth $118,585,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Eagle Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 2,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 13,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,096,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 6,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $519,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 23,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,900,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Davis R M Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 3,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MET shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $98.00 price target (down previously from $99.00) on shares of MetLife in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $97.00 price target (up previously from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.00.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE MET opened at $77.35 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The business’s 50 day moving average is $77.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.89. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $89.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.11, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.85.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.32 by ($0.30). MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%. The business had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.28 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 38.47%.

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

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.