MetLife, Inc. $MET is Dodge & Cox's 6th Largest Position

Key Points

• Dodge & Cox trimmed its stake in MetLife by 0.4%, holding approximately 53.9 million shares, which accounts for 2.5% of its total holdings.
• Several other institutional investors have increased their positions in MetLife, indicating strong overall institutional interest, with 94.99% of the stock currently owned by institutional investors.
• MetLife reported a quarterly EPS of $2.02, missing estimates, and announced a dividend of $0.5675 per share with a yield of 2.8% due to its low dividend payout ratio of 38.47%.

Dodge & Cox decreased its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 53,913,177 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 241,377 shares during the quarter. MetLife makes up 2.5% of Dodge & Cox's holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Dodge & Cox owned 8.03% of MetLife worth $4,328,689,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MET. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter valued at $336,965,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife in the 1st quarter worth $312,946,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in MetLife by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,488,146 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,126,734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824,907 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in MetLife by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,052,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $577,434,000 after purchasing an additional 958,458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 8,789.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 815,889 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $65,508,000 after purchasing an additional 806,711 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on MET shares. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $97.00 target price (up from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $95.60.

MetLife Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:MET traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $81.21. 2,556,691 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,388,292. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.76, a PEG ratio of 0.73 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 firm's 50 day moving average is $78.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.32 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 period last year, the firm earned $2.28 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be given a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife's payout ratio is 38.47%.

MetLife announced 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 repurchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors 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.