7,627 Shares in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Purchased by Challenger Wealth Management

Challenger Wealth Management acquired a new position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,627 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $625,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MET. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth approximately $730,716,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings 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 boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 43.7% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,663,177 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $463,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723,461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 76.0% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $283,862,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496,645 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $94.17.

MetLife Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of MetLife stock traded up $0.76 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $78.75. 2,391,440 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,395,300. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $89.05. The stock's fifty day moving average is $76.61 and its 200 day moving average is $81.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $52.86 billion, a PE ratio of 13.19, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. The firm's revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. This is an increase from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. MetLife's payout ratio is presently 36.91%.

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.