MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Bought by Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 7.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 55,362 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,619 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI's holdings in MetLife were worth $4,446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Eagle Strategies LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 2,707 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its position in MetLife by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 11,295 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $925,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in MetLife by 2.5% during the first quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 6,463 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $519,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA lifted its position in MetLife by 0.7% during the first quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 23,661 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,900,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sonora Investment Management Group LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 3.2% during the first quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 5,607 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $450,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $97.00 price objective (up previously from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MetLife presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.50.

MetLife Stock Performance

MET stock traded down $0.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $77.18. 2,065,460 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,347,644. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.21 and a 52 week high of $89.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $78.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $79.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.85.

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

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

MetLife Announces Dividend

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