MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Acquired by Cwm LLC

CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 18.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,103 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,740 shares during the quarter. CWM LLC's holdings in MetLife were worth $1,935,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,931,536 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $973,901,000 after acquiring an additional 158,107 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter worth about $730,716,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in MetLife by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,862,835 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $711,597,000 after buying an additional 36,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in MetLife by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,052,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $577,434,000 after buying an additional 958,458 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE:MET traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $77.18. 2,065,460 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,357,426. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.55, a PEG ratio of 0.63 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company's 50 day moving average price is $78.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.83.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released its 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 company had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.89% and a net margin of 6.08%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife's payout ratio is 36.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $97.00 target price (up previously from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $95.50.

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.