Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Sells 275,035 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Key Points

• Applied Finance Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in MetLife, Inc. by 50.1%, selling 275,035 shares and retaining 274,072 shares, which now represent 1.6% of its portfolio.
• The company reported earnings of $1.96 per share, slightly below analysts' expectations of $2.00, while revenues increased by 15.6% year-over-year to $18.57 billion.
• MetLife's Board authorized a $3.00 billion share buyback program, indicating confidence in the company's stock valuation.

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 50.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 274,072 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 275,035 shares during the quarter. MetLife accounts for 1.6% of Applied Finance Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC's holdings in MetLife were worth $22,005,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in MetLife by 33.7% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in MetLife by 1.3% in the fourth 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 purchased a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter worth about $730,716,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in MetLife by 0.4% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,862,835 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $711,597,000 after buying an additional 36,177 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in MetLife by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,052,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $577,434,000 after buying an additional 958,458 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Performance

MET opened at $78.53 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $52.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.77, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.85. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.21 and a 1-year high of $89.05. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.04). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.89% and a net margin of 6.08%. The company had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. MetLife's revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is 36.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of MetLife from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $96.09.

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.

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