ABN AMRO Bank N.V. Buys New Stake in MetLife, Inc. $MET

ABN AMRO Bank N.V. purchased a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 76,883 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,511,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 26,953 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,128,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 10,156 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $802,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in MetLife by 2.4% during the first quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 5,813 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $411,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC grew its position in MetLife by 3.1% during the second quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC now owns 4,551 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $385,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its position in MetLife by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,931 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MET. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Atlantic Securities set a $103.00 target price on MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on MetLife from $97.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on MetLife from $93.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on MetLife from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $101.07.

MetLife Stock Up 0.1%

MET stock opened at $97.57 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.33 and a 52 week high of $100.93.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.13. MetLife had a net margin of 4.57% and a return on equity of 23.39%. The firm had revenue of $13.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, August 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 4.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be given a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 4th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is 45.40%.

MetLife Profile

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.

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