State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Lowers Stake in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its stake in MetLife, Inc. by 8.7%, now holding 191,533 shares worth approximately $15.38 million.
• MetLife has experienced significant activity from institutional investors, with Price T Rowe Associates increasing its stake by 33.7% in Q4.
• Analysts' price targets for MetLife vary, with Barclays raising its target to $94.00 and Jefferies increasing it to $103.00, while the consensus target stands at $96.00.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lessened its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 8.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 191,533 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 18,302 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in MetLife were worth $15,378,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in MetLife by 4.8% in the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 422,684 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,937,000 after buying an additional 19,192 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 52.1% in the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 9,355 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $751,000 after purchasing an additional 3,204 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter valued at $255,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in MetLife by 20.7% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 60,785 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,735,000 after purchasing an additional 10,414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heartland Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in MetLife in the first quarter worth $516,000. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MET has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $97.00 price objective (up previously from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on MetLife from $98.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $95.60.

MetLife Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE:MET traded up $0.2560 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $78.9760. The company had a trading volume of 2,666,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,410,005. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $77.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.60. The company has a market capitalization of $52.52 billion, a PE ratio of 13.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.85. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.21 and a 52 week high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.32 by ($0.30). MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%.The company had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.28 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be given a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.47%.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.