Pzena Investment Management LLC Takes $941.79 Million Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• Pzena Investment Management purchased 11.13 million MetLife shares worth approximately $941.8 million, making MetLife 2.8% of its portfolio and its 12th-largest holding. Institutional investors collectively own nearly 95% of the company.
• Wall Street sentiment remains favorable: analysts have a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $101.07, above MetLife’s reported opening price of $96.73.
• MetLife exceeded quarterly earnings expectations with EPS of $2.43 versus $2.30 forecast, while approving a $3 billion share repurchase program and declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.5925 per share, representing a 2.5% annualized yield.

Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 11,130,983 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $941,792,000. MetLife makes up 2.8% of Pzena Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Pzena Investment Management LLC owned 1.73% of MetLife at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MET. Strs Ohio increased its position in MetLife by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 326,091 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,742,000 after purchasing an additional 46,469 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its holdings in MetLife by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 714,193 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $56,712,000 after purchasing an additional 14,515 shares during the last quarter. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new position in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at about $81,494,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 195.8% in the 4th quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 33,260 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,626,000 after purchasing an additional 22,016 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 622,789 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $49,163,000 after purchasing an additional 13,657 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MET. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of MetLife from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on MetLife from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $101.07.

MetLife Stock Down 1.0%

MetLife stock opened at $96.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.53, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.78. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $91.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.33 and a fifty-two week high of $100.93.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.13. MetLife had a return on equity of 23.39% and a net margin of 4.57%.The firm had revenue of $13.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, August 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 4.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 4th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.40%.

MetLife Company Profile

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.

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