HighTower Advisors LLC Has $14.50 Million Stake in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC has increased its stake in MetLife by 8.7%, owning 180,632 shares valued at approximately $14.5 million as of the latest filing.
• MetLife's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $2.02, missing the expected $2.32, and its revenue declined by 2.7% year-over-year.
• MetLife declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5675 per share, with a 2.9% dividend yield, and announced a stock repurchase plan allowing for the buyback of up to $3 billion in shares.

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 8.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 180,632 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 14,433 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in MetLife were worth $14,503,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 33.7% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 6,213,923 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in MetLife in the 1st quarter worth approximately $336,965,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in MetLife in the 1st quarter worth approximately $312,946,000. Northern Trust Corp increased 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 acquiring an additional 958,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MET shares. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $97.00 price objective (up previously from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen cut MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $95.60.

MetLife Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of MET stock traded up $0.2080 on Thursday, hitting $79.2380. The stock had a trading volume of 976,525 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,394,477. The company's 50 day moving average price is $77.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $89.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.85.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last issued 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). MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%.The business had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.58 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.28 EPS. MetLife's revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 purchase up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife's payout ratio is currently 38.47%.

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.