Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys 251,238 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 455.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 306,352 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 251,238 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $25,084,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MET. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in MetLife by 33.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 24,663,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,019,427,000 after purchasing an additional 6,213,923 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 1.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 158,107 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth about $730,716,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in MetLife by 109.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $722,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,606,748 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,052,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $577,434,000 after purchasing an additional 958,458 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $77.82 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $52.24 billion, a PE ratio of 13.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $89.05. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $77.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is 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 given a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays cut their target price on MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on MetLife from $109.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group raised their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.69.

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.