The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Purchases Shares of 656,118 MetLife, Inc. $MET

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 656,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $55,514,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Trajan Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,428,000. Paradigm Capital Management LLC NV acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the second quarter worth approximately $890,000. Fiduciary Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the second quarter valued at approximately $123,000. Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,285,000. Finally, Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the second quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen raised MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.21.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MET opened at $96.62 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $62.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.78. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.33 and a 1 year high of $100.93. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $92.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.13. The company 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%.MetLife’s revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.02 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.73 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 repurchase up to 4.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be paid a $0.5925 dividend. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.40%.

About MetLife

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.