Jennison Associates LLC Cuts Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Jennison Associates LLC lessened its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 6.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,073,394 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 200,864 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 0.46% of MetLife worth $246,763,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. North Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MetLife stock traded down $0.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $77.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,065,460 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,352,551. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $78.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $79.84. The firm has a market cap of $51.81 billion, a PE ratio of 12.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.85. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.04). The firm 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MET shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $98.00 price target (down previously from $99.00) on shares of MetLife in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of 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 issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $95.50.

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.