Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 5,682 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 26.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,026 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,682 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in MetLife were worth $2,170,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake 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 valued at $2,019,427,000 after acquiring an additional 6,213,923 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,931,536 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $973,901,000 after acquiring an additional 158,107 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at about $730,716,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $722,727,000 after acquiring an additional 4,606,748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,052,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $577,434,000 after acquiring an additional 958,458 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $78.46 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.89. The company has a market capitalization of $52.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.04). MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. The business had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. MetLife's revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MET shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $94.17.

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.

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