79,980 Shares in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Purchased by Aquatic Capital Management LLC

Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 79,980 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,549,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MET. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,931,536 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $973,901,000 after purchasing an additional 158,107 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $730,716,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 109.2% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 4,606,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,434,737 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $526,869,000 after acquiring an additional 290,734 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MET traded up $1.90 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $77.67. 1,448,862 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,399,606. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $89.05. The company's 50 day moving average is $77.85 and its 200 day moving average is $81.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.89.

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

MetLife announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. This is a positive change from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on MetLife from $97.00 to $91.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com cut MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a "market perform" rating and a $97.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $92.46.

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.