MQS Management LLC Purchases New Shares in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 8,082 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $649,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $730,716,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of MetLife by 33.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 6,213,923 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of MetLife by 43.7% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,663,177 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $463,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723,461 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of MetLife by 15.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 958,458 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of MetLife by 8,789.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 815,889 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $65,508,000 after purchasing an additional 806,711 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company's stock.

MetLife Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of MET stock opened at $77.69 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $52.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $78.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.00.

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 firm had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows 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 management believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.58.

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.

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