MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Sold by AustralianSuper Pty Ltd

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd trimmed its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 7.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,709,295 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 141,971 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd owned about 0.25% of MetLife worth $137,239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth about $730,716,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in MetLife by 33.7% in 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 buying an additional 6,213,923 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased 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 during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in MetLife by 15.7% in the 4th 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. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 8,789.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 815,889 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $65,508,000 after buying an additional 806,711 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Stock Performance

MET stock traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $77.18. 2,065,460 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,357,426. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.21 and a 52-week high of $89.05. The stock has a market cap of $51.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.55, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock's 50-day moving average is $78.96 and its 200 day moving average is $79.83.

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. As a group, analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be issued a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.91%.

MetLife declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on MET shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $97.00 price objective (up from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $95.50.

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.