Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA Acquires New Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA has acquired a new stake in MetLife, purchasing 3,739 shares valued at approximately $290,000 during the first quarter.
• Analysts have mixed projections for MetLife, with ten recommending a "Buy" rating and one a "Hold", while the stock has a consensus price target of $95.60.
• MetLife has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5675 per share, and its Board has authorized a $3.00 billion stock buyback plan, indicating confidence in the stock's value.

Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA bought a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,739 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $290,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the first quarter valued at $1,008,000. Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of MetLife by 20.5% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC now owns 3,775 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 641 shares during the period. Edgar Lomax Co. VA increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 91.6% during the 1st quarter. Edgar Lomax Co. VA now owns 294,605 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $23,654,000 after purchasing an additional 140,855 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,663 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,017,000 after purchasing an additional 676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,109,423 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $570,816,000 after purchasing an additional 57,221 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company's stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

MetLife stock traded up $2.1760 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $81.4160. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,502,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,596,835. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $54.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.80, a PEG ratio of 0.73 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 moving average price of $77.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.49.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.32 by ($0.30). The business had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.58 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.28 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MET has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 11th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.60.

MetLife Company 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.