NBC Securities Inc. Grows Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

NBC Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 118,328.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,290 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,283 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc.'s holdings in MetLife were worth $665,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in MetLife by 33.7% during the 4th 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of MetLife by 1.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter worth approximately $730,716,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in MetLife by 109.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $722,727,000 after acquiring an additional 4,606,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 958,458 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MET traded up $1.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $79.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,943,023 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,387,790. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.21 and a 1-year high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. Analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be issued a $0.5675 dividend. This is a positive change from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is 36.91%.

MetLife declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback 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 repurchase up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $94.17.

MetLife Company 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.