Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Acquires New Shares in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 199,798 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $16,359,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at about $730,716,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings 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 valued at $2,019,427,000 after purchasing an additional 6,213,923 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in MetLife by 109.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $722,727,000 after buying an additional 4,606,748 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in MetLife by 43.7% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,663,177 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $463,701,000 after buying an additional 1,723,461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 76.0% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $283,862,000 after acquiring an additional 1,496,645 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MET shares. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $94.17.

MetLife Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE:MET traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $78.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,359,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,411,200. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $76.50 and a 200-day moving average of $81.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.21 and a 52-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 0.54.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released 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 company had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. The business's revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. This is a boost from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.91%.

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

MetLife 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.