Insight Inv LLC Purchases Shares of 15,830 MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Insight Inv LLC bought a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 15,830 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,271,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth approximately $730,716,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of MetLife by 33.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 6,213,923 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in MetLife by 43.7% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,663,177 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $463,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723,461 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised 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 purchasing an additional 958,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in MetLife by 8,789.6% during 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

MetLife Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:MET traded up $0.60 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $81.02. 2,681,583 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,369,613. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $89.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $78.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.12. The firm has a market cap of $54.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.85.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.04). MetLife had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 20.89%. The firm had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. MetLife's quarterly revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase 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 shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th were paid a $0.5675 dividend. This is a positive change from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MET. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two equities research 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 a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $94.17.

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.