Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Acquires 23,297 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in MetLife by 58.6%, acquiring an additional 23,297 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to 63,051 shares valued at approximately $5,062,000.
• MetLife reported $2.02 EPS for its recent quarter, missing analyst expectations of $2.32 EPS, with revenue of $17.34 billion compared to the forecast of $18.58 billion.
• The company's board approved a $3 billion stock buyback plan, allowing it to repurchase up to 5.9% of its stock, indicating a belief that its shares are undervalued.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 58.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 63,051 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 23,297 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in MetLife were worth $5,062,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 7.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,488,146 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,126,734,000 after buying an additional 1,824,907 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $711,597,000 after buying an additional 36,177 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.6% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,406,512 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $594,410,000 after buying an additional 259,993 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 0.8% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,109,423 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $570,816,000 after buying an additional 57,221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,671,435 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $535,568,000 after buying an additional 236,698 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

MetLife Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:MET opened at $81.21 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $78.08 and a 200-day moving average of $78.47. The company has a market cap of $54.01 billion, a PE ratio of 13.76, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.85. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.32 by ($0.30). The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.58 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.28 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be paid a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.47%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $95.60.

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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