DAVENPORT & Co LLC Grows Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 11.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 86,878 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,768 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC's holdings in MetLife were worth $6,975,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MET. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in MetLife in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in MetLife in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE:MET traded down $0.65 on Thursday, hitting $79.50. The stock had a trading volume of 1,617,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,361,358. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $78.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.13. The stock has a market cap of $53.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.21 and a 52-week high of $89.05. 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 (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 (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

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

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th were paid a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. This is a positive change from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 6th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is 36.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $94.17.

About MetLife

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.