103,237 Shares in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Purchased by International Assets Investment Management LLC

International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 103,237 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $8,289,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MET. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in MetLife in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on MET. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays dropped their price objective on MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $94.17.

MetLife Price Performance

MET traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $79.14. The stock had a trading volume of 3,232,336 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,378,105. The company has a market cap of $53.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.86. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $89.05. The business has a fifty day moving average of $77.64 and a 200 day moving average of $80.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last announced 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). The company had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 20.89%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th were issued 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.91%.

MetLife declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.