KBC Group NV Acquires 165,893 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

KBC Group NV lifted its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 10.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,812,711 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 165,893 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned about 0.27% of MetLife worth $145,543,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MET. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE:MET opened at $80.40 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $53.97 billion, a PE ratio of 13.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.16. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.89% and a net margin of 6.08%. MetLife's revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

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

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 6th. This is a positive change from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average 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.

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