Fifth Third Bancorp Decreases Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Fifth Third Bancorp decreased its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 8.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 129,992 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 12,699 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in MetLife were worth $10,437,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 33.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 24,663,239 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,019,427,000 after purchasing an additional 6,213,923 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,931,536 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $973,901,000 after purchasing an additional 158,107 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth approximately $730,716,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in MetLife by 109.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $722,727,000 after buying an additional 4,606,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew 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 valued at $577,434,000 after buying an additional 958,458 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MET has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. 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, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $94.17.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MET traded down $1.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $77.22. 3,450,695 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,386,128. 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 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.84 billion, a PE ratio of 12.93, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.86. The company's 50 day moving average price is $76.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.62.

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 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. The company had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 issued a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This is an increase from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 6th. MetLife's payout ratio is currently 36.91%.

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

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.