3,667 Shares in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Purchased by PGGM Investments

PGGM Investments purchased a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 3,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $272,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of MetLife by 3.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,622,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,418,612,000 after buying an additional 1,974,268 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter worth $558,460,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in MetLife by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,053,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $268,090,000 after acquiring an additional 700,788 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in MetLife by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,878,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $256,468,000 after purchasing an additional 104,116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of MetLife by 4.1% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,772,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $205,544,000 after purchasing an additional 108,739 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Down 6.9 %

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $70.56 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $71.94 and a 200 day moving average of $71.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.25, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.11. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.91 and a fifty-two week high of $79.34.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on MET. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Argus increased their price objective on MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.14.

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.