Natixis Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in MetLife by 4.3%, owning a total of 302,575 shares valued at approximately $24.3 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Several institutional investors, including Price T Rowe Associates and Bank of New York Mellon, have also significantly increased their positions in MetLife, indicating a strong confidence in the financial services provider.
• Analysts have varying price targets for MetLife stock, with JPMorgan raising theirs from $86.00 to $95.00, while Wells Fargo increased their target price to $97.00, reflecting an overall positive sentiment.

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 4.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 302,575 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 12,445 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC's holdings in MetLife were worth $24,294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased 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 valued at $2,019,427,000 after buying an additional 6,213,923 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings 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 increased its holdings 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. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake 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 valued at $526,869,000 after acquiring an additional 290,734 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in MetLife by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,113,108 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $418,661,000 after acquiring an additional 564,383 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MET shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $97.00 target price (up from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $96.10.

MetLife Stock Down 2.6%

MET stock opened at $74.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.48. 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 52 week low of $65.21 and a 52 week high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.91%.

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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