MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Purchased by CX Institutional

CX Institutional raised its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 7.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,059 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 5,054 shares during the period. CX Institutional's holdings in MetLife were worth $5,866,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eagle Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 2,707 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 6,044 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Davis R M Inc. increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 3,148 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 11,295 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $925,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Community Bank increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. United Community Bank now owns 5,571 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:MET traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $78.98. 2,264,333 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,385,263. 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 company has a market cap of $53.02 billion, a PE ratio of 13.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.86. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $76.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.70. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last posted 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). The business had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. The business's revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th were issued a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This is a positive change from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. MetLife's payout ratio is presently 36.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MET has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $94.17.

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.