GSA Capital Partners LLP Grows Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 136.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,721 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,482 shares during the quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP's holdings in MetLife were worth $1,182,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MET. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in 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 buying an additional 6,213,923 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 158,107 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in MetLife by 0.4% during the first 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 during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in 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 buying an additional 958,458 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in MetLife by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,434,737 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $526,869,000 after buying an additional 290,734 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on MET. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $97.00 price objective (up from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $98.00 price objective (down from $99.00) on shares of MetLife in a report on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $96.09.

MetLife Trading Down 2.6%

MET stock traded down $1.95 during trading on Friday, reaching $74.00. 4,383,241 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,691,344. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $78.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.55. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $89.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.85.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.04). The firm 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%. MetLife's revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be paid a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife's payout ratio is 36.91%.

MetLife announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign 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.