MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Stake Boosted by Asset Management One Co. Ltd.

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 8.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 257,991 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 19,597 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.'s holdings in MetLife were worth $20,714,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in MetLife by 15.3% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 34,277 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,752,000 after purchasing an additional 4,536 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in MetLife by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 102,181 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,204,000 after purchasing an additional 3,719 shares in the last quarter. Live Oak Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Live Oak Private Wealth LLC now owns 114,219 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,171,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in MetLife by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 112,137 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,003,000 after purchasing an additional 5,413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heartland Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in MetLife in the 1st quarter worth about $516,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

MetLife Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $79.14 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $53.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.87, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.19. 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 quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $18.57 billion during 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th were paid a $0.5675 dividend. This is a boost from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. MetLife's payout ratio is presently 36.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MET shares. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $94.17.

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.

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