Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 236,698 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in MetLife by 3.7%, acquiring an additional 236,698 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately $535 million.
• MetLife's quarterly earnings reported an EPS of $2.02, missing expectations of $2.32, with revenue of $17.34 billion, down 2.7% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5675 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.9%, and has a $3 billion stock buyback plan approved by its board.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,671,435 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 236,698 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.99% of MetLife worth $535,568,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MET. Eagle Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 2,707 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group increased its position in shares of MetLife by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 13,647 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,096,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 6,463 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $519,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA boosted its stake 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, Davis R M Inc. grew its holdings in MetLife by 5.3% during the first quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 3,315 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on MET shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. UBS Group cut their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on MetLife from $98.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Ten investment 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 a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $95.60.

MetLife Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of MetLife stock traded up $0.9350 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $78.6750. 2,425,931 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,409,576. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.21 and a 52 week high of $89.05. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $77.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.60. The company has a market cap of $52.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.85.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.32 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.58 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. MetLife's quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.28 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. MetLife's payout ratio is currently 38.47%.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in 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 an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.