First Horizon Advisors Inc. Increases Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 422,684 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 19,192 shares during the quarter. MetLife comprises approximately 1.0% of First Horizon Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. First Horizon Advisors Inc. owned about 0.06% of MetLife worth $33,937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MET. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in MetLife by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 776,244 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $63,559,000 after purchasing an additional 12,723 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in MetLife by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 435,847 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,687,000 after acquiring an additional 28,848 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its position in MetLife by 52.1% in the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 9,355 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $751,000 after acquiring an additional 3,204 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of MetLife by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,913,408 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $320,430,000 after buying an additional 30,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $301,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MET shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group increased their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays dropped their price target on MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Two 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 has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $94.17.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MET traded down $0.65 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $79.50. 1,617,752 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,365,826. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $78.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.13.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 20.89%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan 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 plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This is a positive change from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.91%.

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.