Ieq Capital LLC Acquires New Shares in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 46,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,904,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MET. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 12.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 7,805,814 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in MetLife during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,381,692,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in MetLife by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,883,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $938,071,000 after purchasing an additional 2,211,315 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter worth approximately $639,986,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in MetLife by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,012,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $553,543,000 after buying an additional 176,811 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Up 2.0%

NYSE:MET opened at $96.20 on Tuesday. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $67.33 and a one year high of $100.93. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $92.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20.

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

MetLife announced that its board has approved a share repurchase 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 reacquire up to 4.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are 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 given a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 45.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MET. Piper Sandler raised their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on MetLife from $103.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on MetLife from $97.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on MetLife from $87.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus 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.