MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Acquired by BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas grew its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 31,661.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,280 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 21,213 shares during the period. BNP Paribas' holdings in MetLife were worth $1,720,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MET. CX Institutional lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 68,005 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,568,000 after buying an additional 9,337 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 13,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,116,000 after acquiring an additional 2,940 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of MetLife by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 776,244 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $63,559,000 after buying an additional 12,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at about $259,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MET. UBS Group lifted their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on MetLife from $109.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $92.69.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MET traded up $0.34 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $76.76. 3,665,312 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,394,274. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $51.61 billion, a PE ratio of 12.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.33. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05.

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

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This is a positive change from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.91%.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback 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 repurchase up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.