Foster & Motley Inc. Buys 6,056 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Key Points

• Foster & Motley Inc. increased its stake in MetLife, Inc. by 10.3%, amounting to $5.19 million in holdings after acquiring additional shares in the first quarter.
• A number of institutional investors have also increased their positions in MetLife, including Price T Rowe Associates, which boosted its stake by 33.7%.
• MetLife plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.5675 on September 9th, representing an annualized dividend yield of 2.92%.

Foster & Motley Inc. raised its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 10.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 64,608 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,056 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.'s holdings in MetLife were worth $5,187,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MET. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 34,437 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,820,000 after buying an additional 2,861 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in MetLife by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 328,964 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,814,000 after purchasing an additional 14,582 shares during the period. RWA Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in MetLife by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,225 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $592,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in MetLife by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 19,022 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,575,000 after purchasing an additional 988 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $97.00 price objective (up from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on MetLife from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Barclays lifted their price objective on MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $98.00 target price (down from $99.00) on shares of MetLife in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $96.09.

MetLife Stock Down 2.6%

NYSE MET traded down $1.95 during trading on Friday, hitting $74.00. The stock had a trading volume of 4,383,241 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,691,344. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month 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 company's 50-day moving average price is $78.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.55. The company has a market capitalization of $49.68 billion, a PE ratio of 12.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.85.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.89% and a net margin of 6.08%. The firm had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. The company's revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

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

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 3.1%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is 36.91%.

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.