Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Lowers Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. reduced its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 238,114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,972 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $20,147,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Strs Ohio increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 326,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,742,000 after acquiring an additional 46,469 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in MetLife by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 622,789 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,163,000 after buying an additional 13,657 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the second quarter worth approximately $2,683,000. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the second quarter worth approximately $14,182,000. Finally, Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the second quarter valued at approximately $8,329,000. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:MET opened at $96.57 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $62.14 billion, a PE ratio of 18.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.88. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.33 and a 12 month high of $100.93.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $13.52 billion for 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%.The company’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. Research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, August 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 4.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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 issued a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 4th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on MetLife from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on MetLife from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $102.21.

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.