Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 18,341 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 677,596 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 18,341 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.10% of MetLife worth $54,404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings 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 worth $2,019,427,000 after purchasing an additional 6,213,923 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in MetLife by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,931,536 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $973,901,000 after buying an additional 158,107 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter worth approximately $730,716,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in MetLife by 15.7% in the fourth 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, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in MetLife by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,434,737 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $526,869,000 after buying an additional 290,734 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MetLife stock traded up $0.55 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $79.73. 247,503 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,434,563. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $78.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.09. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.21 and a 1-year high of $89.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.04). MetLife had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 20.89%. The business had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. This is a boost from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on MET. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $94.67.

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.