Qtron Investments LLC Lowers Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• Qtron Investments LLC reduced its stake in MetLife, Inc. by 55.3% during the first quarter, leaving it with 6,382 shares valued at approximately $512,000.
• MetLife recently missed earnings expectations with reported earnings per share of $2.02, falling short of the consensus estimate of $2.32, alongside a revenue drop of 2.7% year-over-year.
• The company has authorized a stock repurchase program to buy back $3.00 billion in shares, indicating that its board believes the stock is undervalued.

Qtron Investments LLC reduced its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 55.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,382 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 7,881 shares during the period. Qtron Investments LLC's holdings in MetLife were worth $512,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MET. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 422,684 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,937,000 after buying an additional 19,192 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 52.1% during the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 9,355 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $751,000 after buying an additional 3,204 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the first quarter valued at about $255,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 20.7% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 60,785 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,735,000 after acquiring an additional 10,414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heartland Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the first quarter valued at about $516,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

MetLife Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of MET stock opened at $77.77 on Tuesday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $77.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.60. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $89.05. The company has a market cap of $51.72 billion, a PE ratio of 13.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

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

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be given a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is 38.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 11th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $95.60.

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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