MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Holdings Reduced by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 39.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 275,415 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 178,568 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in MetLife were worth $22,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth about $730,716,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 33.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 24,663,239 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,019,427,000 after acquiring an additional 6,213,923 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 43.7% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,663,177 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $463,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723,461 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,052,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $577,434,000 after buying an additional 958,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in MetLife by 8,789.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 815,889 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $65,508,000 after buying an additional 806,711 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $76.29 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $89.05. The firm has a market cap of $51.22 billion, a PE ratio of 12.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.85. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $78.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.82.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.04). The firm 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%. MetLife's quarterly revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife announced that its board has approved a stock 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 buy up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MET. Barclays upped their price objective on MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of MetLife from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $97.00 target price (up previously from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.

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