Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC Purchases New Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 140,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $11,463,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MET. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at about $730,716,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake 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 worth $2,019,427,000 after purchasing an additional 6,213,923 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised 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 worth $722,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,606,748 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 43.7% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,663,177 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $463,701,000 after buying an additional 1,723,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its holdings in MetLife by 76.0% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $283,862,000 after buying an additional 1,496,645 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE MET traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $77.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,371,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,403,239. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.21 and a 52-week high of $89.05. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $77.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. The business had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. The business's revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management 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 issued a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. This is a boost from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of MetLife from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a "market perform" rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. One equities 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 presently 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.